Duke’s death ‘a great loss to the Bailiwick’

It was read at a specially-convened States meeting yesterday by Bailiff Richard McMahon.

‘We, the Lt-Governor and the Bailiff of Guernsey, the Royal Court and the States of Guernsey, the president and the States of Alderney, the Seigneur and the Chief Pleas of Sark, and all the people of this Bailiwick, with humble duty, beg leave to offer to Her Majesty the Queen, and her family, our respectful and sincerest sympathy on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, whose long life represented the epitome of loyalty, commitment, service and good humour, and stands as an inspiration to us all.’

Deputies wore mainly black tie and dress for the special meeting which heard speeches from the Bailiff and chief minister Deputy Peter Ferbrache.

Only three deputies were not present.

Mr McMahon described the six times that the Duke of Edinburgh had visited the Bailiwick, starting with his first visit in 1949 through to the final time in 2005.

Prince Philip, he said, was remembered as someone with a sense of duty, loyalty, commitment and devotion, who had led a long and remarkable life.

Deputy Ferbrache reminisced about when he was a pupil at Vauvert Infants and had joined more than 6,000 other school children at Cambridge Park in 1957 to welcome the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

He remembered cheering them ‘like superstars’.

Nearly 64 years later, Deputy Ferbrache said it was a great honour and sadness that he was making the tribute.

‘Life should be lived generally with a smile on your face, you can’t always do that because the trials and tribulations of life are such that it’s not possible, but His Royal Highness lived most of his life with a smile on his face,’ he said.

‘He had an impish sense of humour, he made the occasional injudicious remark, but that made him even more interesting because he was a human being.

‘He was an extraordinary man and he was an ordinary man, and there’s no contradiction in those two terms.

‘It’s a great loss to this Bailiwick that we’ve lost such a fine and admirable public servant, we hear much about people’s rights nowadays, we don’t hear so much about duty.

‘His Royal Highness discharged his duty well over 70 years, we owe him a great, great debt.’

Deputy Ferbrache also commented on Prince Philip’s work ethic – he eventually retired from public duties aged 96 – and his legacy through his environmental work and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

‘Great is an epithet which is used too loosely, but it doesn’t even half describe the magnificence of the work and the contribution that His Royal Highness Prince Philip has made to the life of the world, not just this Bailiwick.

‘It’s with great sadness that we make these remarks today, but it’s also to honour a fine man.’

States members then stood in a minute’s silence to pay their respects.