A YEAR has passed since the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - and county dignitaries have been recounting their memories of the announcement which shocked the nation.

Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral on the afternoon of September 8 2022 as concern for her health escalated and the royals rushed to her bedside.

Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, was in the House of Commons chamber when he became aware that the Queen was ill.

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He said: "I saw a note that was passed to the Speaker and saw him swiftly leave the chair to be briefed by his officials.

"Shortly afterwards a holding statement was made that the Queen was seriously ill and that family had been summoned.

"I remember it hitting everyone like a bolt from the blue and later that day we were all tuning into the radio and television to hear the official and very solemn announcement that she had passed away.

"She was a remarkable lady whose record of service is unsurpassed and whose life had a profound impact on our country through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."

Mr Walker also recalled a fact about his father, Peter Walker MP, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Queen.

He said: "One remarkable fact is that when my late father entered Parliament in 1961 he used to pass through the division lobbies alongside Winston Churchill who had only recently ceased to be Prime Minister.

"That was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and he had been her first Prime Minister.

"Both of them would have sworn allegiance to her each time they were elected to Parliament as I did in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

"All those decades later she was still on the throne and serving her country.

"We will not see her like again."

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Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, met Her Majesty on several occasions and was in Westminster when the news broke.

She said: “I was just leaving Westminster for home in the Malvern Hills when the news of Her Majesty’s passing was announced.

“The late Queen was a strong supporter of Malvern and especially fond of our world-famous spring water, which she used to drink regularly.

“I am proud to have been able to meet her on several occasions and am thankful for her long life, staunch public service and her commitment to our nation and the Commonwealth over seven decades.”