Cllr Bautista speaking at last night’s meeting

Labour councillor Lotis Bautista has told the council chamber how there was no escape for the Queen during her 70 years of service – with every mistake scrutinised in the public gaze.

She added that it should be remembered how often she was the only woman in the room at important events.

She was speaking as Camden Council held a special all-member meeting last night (Monday) in which councillors, aldermen, members of the public and Town Hall staff paid tribute to the Queen.

Here is what Cllr Bautista said:

“We’ve heard a lot about the Queen’s seven decades of committed public service, as there’s no doubt that it is both impressive and or inspiring that she served our nation for more than double my life, and for more than double the lives of many others in this room.

But what does it really mean to serve for 70 years? It means that whilst many of us can take a moment of respite when we feel weary, balancing our own duties as public servants with our personal and professional lives –especially during an election – she could not. She had little distinction or choice between the two.

All parts of her life were given over to a steady and constant stream of long engagements, long evenings, events, and highly public outings, where even a car journey might not take place without a consistent gaze.

Similarly, while some of us could turn away from the brunt of social media, and having our individual actions and decisions ripped apart in public, a constantly documented record of hers and her family’s lives and decisions have been made available to us since the moment she was born.

Each painful moment, each human folly and grave error of judgement has been made ready for us to criticise, to replay, and in this digital age, to share with millions of people in less than one minute.

And when we begin to tire of our roles, and the ups and downs of professional niceties, we usually have the option to look elsewhere or simply to leave. She did not.

As public servants ourselves how many of us in this room can honestly claim that we would be willing and able to do the same for so long? Finally, we cannot forget that as a woman, she would have stood alone in many rooms for many decades.

In fact, Keir Starmer mentioned yesterday that she was the only woman present at her own accession.

As a young woman in 2022, I know how lonely a place that can be. I can only imagine how it must have felt 70 years ago.

Despite this, not only did she become our longest serving monarch and the second longest serving in history, unless something changes over the next few years, she will be this nation’s last Queen for at least another 70 years.

So with that in mind, I would like to thank her and pay tribute to her for her service to our nation and for everything she gave and sacrifice for us over her many, many years of service.”