On Monday, the country will come together to issue a final goodbye to the Queen as her funeral takes place at Westminster Abbey.
With the death of the monarch, the country has been ushered into a new era under Charles III.
To mark this momentous part of our history, the Oxford Mail asked each of our county’s MPs to write an opinion piece on the events of recent weeks.
All of these opinion pieces can be read on our website and in the print edition of the Oxford Mail.
By Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon
Over the past few days following the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II our country has been united in grief and gratitude.
She is the only monarch that most of us have ever known, a constant in our lives throughout times of challenge and of celebration.
It has been an honour to represent the people of Oxford West and Abingdon in this historic moment, both in offering my condolences and reflections on the life of the Queen, and in welcoming our new monarch, King Charles III.
The ties between the Queen and the community were strong. In every milestone of her reign, Abingdon celebrated with its eccentric and much-loved bun throwing spectacle. She was also a regular visitor to Oxfordshire; she inspected a military parade at RAF Abingdon in 1968, she opened Sophos at Abingdon Science Park in 2004 and she re-opened the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford after its refurbishment in 2009.
One constituent shared with me a memory of meeting the Queen with her 6-year old daughter in Malaysia. She told me “when the Queen approached, my daughter, reluctant to release her bouquet, asked, “Are you sure you are the real Queen? You are not wearing a crown, only a hat”. The Queen replied, “I am sorry. The crown was a little heavy to wear today, but I hope you like my hat”. My daughter, now convinced, released the flowers. I will always remember her warmth and humour while handling my daughter’s mistake.”
It is those recollections of her humility and her humour that have stood out.
I have also been struck by how many people have said, “I am not a monarchist but I loved her.” The fact that she held people’s respect despite and not because of her title is testament to the genius that she brought to the role and is an example to us all.
But as we reflect on the life of our much-loved Queen, we also embark on a new era with a new monarch.
It was an enormous privilege to attend the Proclamation of King Charles II in both Oxford City and Abingdon.
Oxford City saw the coming together of the 'Town and Gown', with representatives from Oxford University, County and District Councils as well as the armed forces, faith groups and the emergency services. At the Abingdon Town Proclamation I was proud to stand alongside local councillors and representatives of the community to hear the Proclamation. It was uplifting to see so many people gathered together to share the poignant, albeit bittersweet, moment when hundreds of people began to sing 'God Save Our Gracious King' for the very first time.
At both events, people told me how important it was for them to come together to express their feeling of loss. Not just the loss of our Head of State but the loss of a much-loved and constant presence for us all. We also needed that opportunity to come together and look forward. The sense of hope as people cheered our new King was very much felt in the Oxfordshire air.
And while the nation mourns, we must also acknowledge the incredibly important work to be done to tackle the cost of living crisis that for now had been put on pause. Mourning the death of a much loved monarch is important, but so is making sure families do not go cold or hungry. It is right and important that as a nation we respect this once in a lifetime moment, but I will be pushing for The Government to work night and day to ensure the real issues facing people are tackled in a timely way. The Queen taught us to always put the people first. I feel confident she would have expected nothing less.
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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.
You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry
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