Vale Notice from the Governor of Western Australia

Early this morning I was informed that Her Majesty The Queen, Elizabeth II had passed away at Balmoral Castle on 8 September 2022.

On behalf of the people of Western Australia, I have passed on our deepest and heartfelt condolences to His Majesty King Charles III, The Queen Consort and the Royal Family for her life that was lived in duty and service to Australia, the Realms and the entire Commonwealth of Nations.

Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy are with the people of Great Britain for what is an extremely sad day that will leave many with feelings of profound sadness, loss, and grief.

For Western Australians, this news has been received with a heavy heart. Her Majesty the Queen had a great love and affection for the people of Western Australia and visited seven times.

The deep respect and affection for Her Majesty among Western Australians was no more evident when more than 100,000 people came to wish her well during her final visit to Western Australia in 2011 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the naming of Elizabeth Quay during the year of her Diamond Jubilee.

The passing of Her Majesty sees the end of one of history’s most enduring reigns of any monarch and the longest in British history.

Her reign of 70 years that spanned two centuries has seen some of the most unprecedented periods of change in human history, but to which she remained a steadfast and reliable constant in our lives.

Her Majesty set the highest of standards for public life with its foundations firmly set in a dignified and unwavering commitment to her sense of duty and service to the people of Great Britain, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

She lived up to this commitment, travelling more widely than any other Monarch and supporting over 600 charities, military associations, professional bodies, and public service organisations.

HRH Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge, now heir to the throne, has spoken of Her Majesty’s ‘kindness and sense of humour, her innate sense of calm and perspective, and her love of family’. She was indeed a woman who loved her family, while still leading her country and the Commonwealth.

As Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty not only played an important symbolic and unifying role, but on her many Royal Visits and engagements, she was able to personally reinforce the links by which the Commonwealth joins people of such rich and diverse cultural and religious backgrounds.

On behalf of all Western Australians, we are unified in our sympathy and grief for the loss of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Her Majesty the Queen visited Western Australia seven times throughout her life:

• 1954 (January)
• 1963 (February/March)
• 1977 (March)
• 1981 (September/October)
• 1988 (April/May)
• 2000 (March/April)
• 2011 (October)

In 2015 Her Majesty is quoted as saying, “I feel enormously proud of what the Commonwealth has achieved, all of it within my lifetime.” In 2020, as part of her Commonwealth Message, Queen Elizabeth said, “Such a blend of traditions serves to make us stronger, individually and collectively, by providing the ingredients needed for social, political and economic resilience.” Her Majesty last visited Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October 2011 with ‘women as agents of change’ as the theme. Her Majesty reminded participants of the unlocked potential of women and encouraged the leaders to create ‘positive and enduring outcomes.

My deepest sympathies to the Royal Family and to the people of Great Britain who have lost a remarkable Sovereign. I conclude with a quote from Her Majesty’s last speech given at CHOGM in Perth, which is very fitting at this incredibly sad time. Her Majesty said,

“We are all visitors to this time, this place, we are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love and then to return home.”

Her Majesty, thank you for all you gave to your country, the Realms and the entire world.

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