Sense of duty embodied by Queen being lost, warns May

The ‘devotion to duty’ embodied by the Queen may be dying out says Theresa May as ex-PM warns that many people in the public eye now feel ‘it’s more about them’ – as she hails the calming effect of meeting the monarch

The sense of duty embodied by the late Queen may be slipping away in public life, Theresa May warned today.

The former prime minister said the Queen was ‘the most remarkable person’ and an ‘example of devotion to duty’.

She told ITV’s Lorraine: ‘I think maybe there is a slight loss of that sense of duty.

‘It becomes, for a lot of people, more about them rather than about other people and how they should be… working for other people.’

She also spoke of the calming effect of private weekly chats with the Queen.

‘I suppose before I became PM I always heard about these audiences, but you sometimes wonder maybe there is somebody sitting in the corner but literally you’re right, it’s just you and the monarch, it’s incredible,’ she said.

‘It’s a very calm moment when you’re able to have a conversation with somebody who has immense experience and immense wisdom.’

The former prime minister said the Queen was ‘the most remarkable person’ and an ‘example of devotion to duty’.

She told ITV’s Lorraine: ‘I think maybe there is a slight loss of that sense of duty. ‘It becomes, for a lot of people, more about them rather than about other people and how they should be… working for other people.’

She added: ‘The late Queen Elizabeth was an example of devotion to duty par excellence.’

She added: ‘The late Queen Elizabeth was an example of devotion to duty par excellence.

‘She was the most remarkable person I’ve ever met.

‘The combination of qualities she had, I haven’t come across in anybody else.

‘I doubt we will see her like again.’

Mrs May spoke fondly about visiting the Queen at Balmoral, where the monarch sought to put guests at ease – including by playing cards by herself while others mingled.

The former prime minister said the Queen did not make herself the centre of attention at the gatherings.

She said the Queen wanted to be ‘a good hostess’ who ‘wanted her guests to really feel at home, to enjoy the surroundings as much as she did and be able to relax’.

Mrs May said: ‘There would be occasions when, perhaps, everybody – guests – were milling around, perhaps chatting to each other, and the Queen was quite happy to sit in the room playing patience.

‘She didn’t feel the need for everybody to be paying attention to her all the time.’

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