His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Wellington Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Duke of Wellington (CB)]

My Lords, it is a great privilege to be able to speak in this debate, to pay tribute to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. This country, and the whole Commonwealth, are most fortunate that the Queen’s consort has served their people so well. As many have said, after a difficult childhood the Prince served with distinction in the Second World War. When he married, he remained in the Navy until that was no longer possible. From that moment on, he served the Crown, the country and the Commonwealth with an unflinching sense of duty. He was energetically active, giving his support to countless good causes, some of which were not yet fashionable, such as the environment and the education of engineers. He had a remarkable talent for getting into the detail of so much with which he was connected.

The founding of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme has rightly been mentioned by many noble Lords, but there were many other activities and causes, here and abroad, which he did so much to help and encourage. For example, he took very seriously his duties as chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh and, previously, the Universities of Wales and Salford. This morning, I received from the director-general of the Royal United Services Institute—of which I am a trustee—an interesting quote from a lecture the Duke gave in the 1980s. He said the idea that the military profession

“is somehow not comparable with law, engineering or medicine or that it should rank below … subjects so popular in most universities, strikes me as entirely ludicrous.”

That demonstrates his great interest, not only in the Armed Forces but in university education.

I also received this morning another quote, showing a completely different aspect of the Duke’s interests, from the deputy ranger of Windsor Great Park. It shows his great interest in arboriculture:

“We are enjoying the gardens and avenues and amenities planted by previous generations and it is because I feel myself to be a temporary custodian that I am planting for future generations.”


The Duke aroused enormous loyalty and affection in all those who worked with him. He brought enormous strength to the Crown and travelled throughout the Commonwealth to an unprecedented degree. He set an example to all of public service to the nation and to the Commonwealth. As the Prince of Wales has said, he was “a very special person”. The whole country has benefited from his long tour of duty at the centre of our affairs. May he rest in peace.

EU Referendum: Voter Registration

Duke of Wellington Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

My Lords, I think the answer is in the question—Glastonbury. The noble Lord should get a group of your Lordships together, appear on stage and sing, “No Satisfaction Unless There’s Registration”—I am sorry, that is an end of term joke. Ministers have written to universities and sixth-form colleges to encourage them to promote voter registration ahead of the deadline. In addition, the Government are working with organisations such as Universities UK, the Association of Colleges, Bite The Ballot, UpRising and other youth organisations to help ensure young people are registered in time for the EU referendum.

[The Duke of Wellington (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chairman of the council of King’s College London. I am so pleased that the Minister mentioned universities. Does she agree that it is particularly important that university students, who have the option of registering where they study or getting a postal vote from home, know how important it is that they get a vote for the referendum?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

I could not agree more with my noble friend. Students are now able to register at both term-time and home addresses in just three minutes. It can be done, as we know, on a smartphone, PC or tablet device. Since June 2014, more than 4 million applications to register to vote have been received from people between the ages of 16 and 24, and 3 million of those were made online.