There are many different words that have been used in this Chamber and in other Parliaments and in other tributes to Her Majesty the Queen in recent days: duty, service, longevity, dedication, honour—I made a list of a few of them just in the Chamber today—dignity, grace, patience, commitment. But the one thing that I think speaks most to me about the Queen, the one word I would use to describe her, is her devotion. Every time I look at those pictures in my office, I think of the Queen's devotion, her devotion to her nation, to her peoples, not just here in the UK, but around the world and in the Commonwealth, her devotion to our armed forces—and, of course, she was the commander-in-chief of the British armed forces and the colonel-in-chief of both the Royal Welsh and the Welsh Guards—and her devotion to her family. 

The one conversation I ever had with the Queen was back in 2011, and it was on the occasion of the opening of the Senedd. We had been gathered for a lunchtime meal across the way in the millennium centre, and Members of the Senedd were ushered with their guests into a room upstairs on the first floor in order to meet Her Majesty. It was quite a press in that particular room, and I found it quite difficult, because I'm a little shorter than some, to muscle my way through the press in order to make it over to the Queen. So, I did what every good person who's a hanger-on tries to do; I hung around and waited for people to have their chats with the Queen and move on. And eventually, of course, the crowd began to dwindle and Her Majesty the Queen was suddenly there. Of course, you're not allowed to approach the Queen, are you? You have to wait for Her Majesty to speak to you. And she approached me and my wife, Rebecca, and she began to talk. And she was making all of the small talk that the Queen was able to do so tremendously well, but there was an opportunity, when she asked about what I did before I got elected to the Senedd and all of those things, there was an opportunity for my wife to talk to the Queen, and my wife spoke about our children at the time, who used to love watching Prince William go up in the search and rescue helicopter, above our house on occasions, in north Wales, because, of course, he'd been based at RAF Valley for a time, working as a search and rescue pilot. And the Queen's face just lit up, because she was devoted not only to her nation, country, people, the armed forces; she was devoted to her family. She loved her family. For all its faults, like every family in this room, she loved her family. And when she spoke about her grandson, Prince William, her face absolutely lit up. 

And of course, she was not just devoted to her family and her country and all of those other things; she was devoted to God. She made that pledge at the start of her reign. She made pledges in the coronation, and she made pledges throughout her life, to serve God in the best way that she could, to be the best monarch that she could be. She very much fulfilled that role of being the defender of the faith, which was one of her official titles. She championed the Christian faith that was so central to her life. She spoke often of it, of course, during the Christmas broadcasts. But, even as recently as last month, she spoke of her Christian faith in a letter to the Lambeth Conference. And in it, she said this: 

'Throughout my life, the message and teachings of Christ have been my guide and in them I find hope. It is my heartfelt prayer that you will continue to be sustained by your faith in times of trial and encouraged by hope in times of despair.'

Well, I want to say this: thank you, your Majesty, for inspiring me and my faith over the years, and that of millions around the globe. We appreciate your service, and I'm grateful to have had you as part of my family over the years that I have been brought up.

And I say this to the new King, Charles III: thank you for your service to us, as our Prince of Wales, over more than five decades. I, for one, have appreciated that service and know what an excellent ambassador the new King has been for us during his tenure as Prince. And I say God save the King, and may God bless our new Prince William and Princess Katherine as they take on their new roles.