Maidenhead MP warns 'sense of duty' being lost

The former Prime Minister worries it's something we could lose following the Queen's death

Former PM Theresa May with HM The Queen in April 2018
Author: David Hughes, PA Political Editor & Sharon PlummerPublished 13th Sep 2022

A former Prime Minister has spoken about how she feels the sense of duty embodied by the Queen may be slipping away in public life.

Maidenhead MP, Theresa May has made the comments on ITV's Lorraine this morning (13 September), saying she felt Her Late Majesty was "the most remarkable person" and an "example of devotion to duty".

Speaking on the TV programme Mrs May said:

"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."

The former prime minister added: "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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