Thursday 08 September 2022
It is with great sadness that this announcement is made. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has received official notification from London of the death of Her Majesty The Queen.
An official condolence message has been sent on behalf of the people of Guernsey by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, in liaison with the Bailiff and the Chief Minister.
The condolence message from the Bailiwick reads:
We, the Lieutenant-Governor and the Bailiff of Guernsey, the Deputy Bailiff, the Royal Court and the States of Guernsey, the President and the States of Alderney, the Seigneur and the Chief Pleas of Sark, and all the people of this Bailiwick with humble duty beg leave to offer to His Majesty The King and His family our respectful and sincerest sympathy on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, whose long and loyal reign stands as an inspiration to us all. Her Majesty will always be remembered with great affection across our islands, which she visited on six memorable occasions.
Arrangements are being made for special meetings of the States of Deliberation and for other ceremonies to mark the passing of Her Majesty. This will include gun salutes from Castle Cornet. Information about these arrangements will be made public in further media releases and at gov.gg/monarch.
A period of National Mourning has commenced which will continue until the end of the day of the State Funeral. There will be formal opportunities for members of the public in Guernsey to express their sadness and their condolences. These will include the opening of Books of Condolence at various locations around the island and a dedicated area at St Paul's Sunken Garden will be made available for the public to lay flowers. There will be an Official Island Thanksgiving Service in the coming days.
His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell CB, CBE, said:
"I served Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Army for more than 40 years and it has been my honour and privilege to be her personal representative in the Bailiwick since February 2022. It was my most sad and solemn duty to receive official notification of the passing of Her Majesty and to convey it to others in the Bailiwick. Even in this time of great sadness, I know that everyone in the Bailiwick will always remember Her Majesty's exceptional devotion to her people, her extraordinary service to those she represented and her love of these Islands."
The Bailiff, Richard McMahon, said:
"Like others across the Bailiwick and throughout the world, I feel a profound sense of loss. Her Majesty offered an example to us all in her enduringly strong sense of duty and public service. She was an important figurehead for the UK, for the Bailiwick of Guernsey and for many other parts of the world throughout her reign. On behalf of the people of Guernsey, I have asked His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to send the Bailiwick's official condolence message to Buckingham Palace."
The Chief Minister, Deputy Peter Ferbrache, said:
"Like many in our community, for as long as I can remember Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the sovereign. As the longest reigning monarch in British history, she represented continuity, constancy and commitment to people in the Bailiwick and around the globe. It is sad, strange and unsettling to hear that Her Majesty is now lost to us."
