There’s a sombre mood in parliament today as MPs gather to pay tribute to the Queen. Over the following days, they will swear allegiance to the new King and share their memories and recollections of Elizabeth II. Prime Minister Liz Truss opened the proceedings in parliament, telling the House that the late monarch was one of ‘the greatest leaders the world has ever known. She was the rock on which modern Britain was built.’

Sir Keir Starmer quoted Philip Larkin and told members that ‘she did not simply reign over us, she lived alongside us.’ Then it was the turn of the Father of the House, Sir Peter Bottomley, followed by the Queen’s 14th Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He heralded the late Queen as ‘Elizabeth the Great’ and recalled how one Middle Eastern world leader actually thought she had parachuted out of a plane at the London Olympics.