Queen Elizabeth II – Heads Memories and Tributes

Dr Julian Murphy 

HEADMASTER, LOUGHBOROUGH AMHERST SCHOOL, FORMERLY OLCS 

Like many people across the UK, the Commonwealth, and the entire planet, I met the news of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s death with a sense of shock, disorientation, and profound loss. 

It should not be shocking when someone who has reached the grand old age of 96 dies. Yet, in this case, it is. We have lost our monarch of more than seventy years. Someone who felt like a rock of permanent and enduring values in an ever-changing and often confusing world. 

I am sure we would all agree that Queen Elizabeth II exemplified values of duty, resilience, calm, and quiet common sense. 

Above all, at the heart of the Queen’s character was an unpretentious yet profound Christian faith. This faith kept her rooted in an inner dignity through more than seven decades of passing fads, fashions, and upheavals. 

I, and the whole Amherst community, join the nation and world in praying together in gratitude for the life and work of this most remarkable human being. 

Dr Daniel Koch 

HEADMASTER, LOUGHBOROUGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL 

Her life was extraordinary, and her service to this country and to the Commonwealth immeasurable. She became Queen in 1952 at only 26 years old. Winston Churchill was her first Prime Minister. 14 others have come and gone during her 70-year reign. In all the shifting sands and changing tides that we have experienced in our lifetime, she has been an ever-arching presence. A symbol of unity and stability, of integrity, service, and character. For me and for countless others, she has always been a source of inspiration. 

And yet she was not a just symbol, she was something much more than that – she was a person. A mother, a sister, a wife, a grandmother. She knew the same sorts of joys that we all do in our lives, and also experienced loss and knew the sting of hard times. For me, she represents the values of my grandparents’ generation, those that have become rarer, and yet, are more important than ever. She was kind, courteous, and took a genuine interest in others. Those things that make someone a good person regardless of wealth, class, or education. 

I feel grateful that my time here on earth has overlapped with that of Her Majesty the Queen. I am grateful for her example, for her dedication and service. I will have fond memories of her Golden, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilees for the rest of my years. I will always remember watching her thoughtful Christmas speeches gathered round the television with family. And I will always smile when I remember her appearances alongside James Bond during the 2012 London Olympics and Paddington Bear earlier this year. 

We are witnesses to the end of an era, the second Elizabethan age. 

Dr Fiona Miles 

HEAD, LOUGHBOROUGH HIGH SCHOOL 

Above all, hers is a life defined by unconditional love, not just for her beloved husband Philip, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren but also for God and for her country. At the age of 21 she vowed to commit her life, however long or short, to our nation and she has remained faithful to us all for over three-quarters of a century. She symbolised the best of our nation and the best of ourselves. 

Andrew Earnshaw 

HEADMASTER, FAIRFIELD PREP SCHOOL 

The school, our pupils, staff and parents, are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty the Queen. Our thoughts, prayers, and heartfelt affection go out to all members of the Royal Family at this time of sorrow.   

Her Majesty embodied many virtues, and will always be remembered for her selfless service, her warmth, and her gentle strength in leading the nation over seven decades. Her life was an example to us all, and she was a constant source of unity and reassurance throughout her life