Thank you to our dear Queen Elizabeth II who has been so steadfast in her service to our country.  She has been gracious and acted with great dignity, wisdom and compassion throughout her life and been a powerful influence for good – an amazing example to us all  Over the 70 years of her reign she has become like a mother to us, a stable and reassuring presence in our fast-moving and uncertain world.  I write with great sadness but deep gratitude for her long and peaceful reign.