East Riding of Yorkshire Council pays tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In a joint statement, chairman of the council Councillor John Whittle, leader of the council, Councillor Jonathan Owen and the council’s chief executive, Caroline Lacey paid tribute to Her Majesty, who “dedicated her life to serve the people of the United Kingdom”.

The statement said: “We are all deeply saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and send our heartfelt condolences and sympathy to her family. They are all in our thoughts and prayers at this extremely sad time.

“She dedicated her life to serving the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and has been a beacon of hope, stability and unity and overseen many changes during her reign as Monarch with unwavering grace and poise.

“As the longest serving Monarch she has been an ever-present in most people’s lives and it’s unlikely we will ever witness a reign as long and as glorious again.”

As a mark of respect, the Union Jack will be flown at half-mast on all council buildings until the day after the funeral while books of condolence will be available for people to leave messages of sympathy at the council’s libraries, multi-service centres and customer service centres during usual business hours. People can also leave tributes online via the Buckingham Palace website – www.royal.uk

Her Majesty last visited the East Riding in 2009 when accompanied by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, who died last year, when she opened the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.

But the most memorable visit came in 2002 as part of her Golden Jubilee tour when Her Majesty and the Duke arrived by Royal Train into Beverley and attended a service for rural life at Beverley Minster, followed by a walkabout in Saturday Market.

The couple visited the college at Bishop Burton before attending a lunch, hosted by the council, at Beverley Racecourse and then presented a trophy to the winning female jockey in the Gold Jubilee race.