An address to Her Majesty The Queen, praising her Christian faith and dedication to the Church, Nation and
Commonwealth, has been delivered by St Paul’s Cathedral.
Certain organisations, including St Paul’s, retain the long-held right, on occasions of outstanding public interest such as a Jubilee, to
address The Queen and receive a response from her.
At Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, 27th March, the Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral delivered its Loyal and Dutiful Address, alongside
other privileged bodies including the Royal Academy and University of Oxford.
The address touched on The Queen’s "selfless duty” throughout her reign and thanked her for the numerous acts of worship she had attended at
the Cathedral, "in times of joy, and of sadness, and of thanksgiving.”
In response, The Queen said: "It is ten years since you were last gathered here on the occasion of my Golden Jubilee.Over the past decade, you,
the Privileged Bodies and corporations of the United Kingdom have continued your important work in supporting the core values of this nation,
in helping to preserve our time-honoured traditions and most importantly, in shaping its future.
"The Church and other religious bodies have offered a spiritual and social framework, sustained communities and helped the disadvantaged.”
St Paul’s Loyal Address in full
THE LOYAL AND DUTIFUL ADDRESS OF THE CHAPTER OF ST PAUL’S
CATHEDRAL IN THE CITY OF LONDON TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY
May it please Your Majesty.
The Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral, on behalf of the whole Cathedral community, presents to Your Majesty its
loyal greetings and dutiful service on this the occasion of Your Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.
We are most mindful at this time of Your Majesty’s steadfast faith in God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. We
give thanks to God for Your selfless duty and service shown to the Church, to the nation, and to the peoples of the Commonwealth, all in
humility before our God. In Your long reign You have inspired us to know, in the words of our patron St Paul, that ‘faith, hope, and love
abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love’.
We here renew our own commitment to serve You with loyalty as we serve the King of kings with faithfulness,
not only in our mission to proclaim the Gospel in the Diocese of London, but also as a symbol, throughout the world, of the rich diversity of
Your capital city, and of the strength and freedoms of Your United Kingdom.
And finally, we recall with joy and gratitude that Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, Her
late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and other members of the Royal Family have worshipped with us on so many great occasions during Your reign - in
times of joy, and of sadness, and of thanksgiving. We most humbly thank You for celebrating with us last year’s three-hundredth anniversary of
our great Cathedral building. And we look forward with delight to welcoming Your Majesty, members of the Royal Family, distinguished
representatives of Your Commonwealth, and all those who watch from across the world, to the National Service of Thanksgiving in June to mark
sixty years of Your happy and glorious reign.
Humbly begging God’s blessing on Your Majesty, we assure You of our continued prayers and service.
