Queen Elizabeth II: Former MP reflects on late monarch's dedication
Lancashire County Council Red Rose CollectionsThe Queen's "reassurance, dedication and stability shone through" during her reign, Dame Louise Ellman has said in a tribute to the late monarch.
The former Liverpool MP, who received her damehood from King Charles III, first met the Queen in Preston during the 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations.
She said she was "very thoughtful" and "always seemed to do the right thing".
People across the world have been sharing their memories of the Queen, following her death at the age of 96.
Dame Louise, a former Labour politician, told BBC Radio Merseyside how she met the Queen "many times", both as MP for Liverpool Riverside and when she was leader of Lancashire County Council.
She said: "She was always interested in the people she would meet and I think that was a remarkable thing about her.
"She came to visit Preston during the Silver Jubilee and I was first struck by how pretty she was.
"The Queen was very thoughtful and she always seemed to do the right thing."
UK ParliamentShe said the public's display of support and sympathy for the Queen "really recognises how she epitomised her timeless reassurance, dedication and stability".
"Those are the qualities that really shone through wherever she was," she added.
PA MediaThe Queen visited Liverpool with the Duke of Edinburgh during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and had many other visits to Merseyside.
Among the many tributes marking the Queen's death was a poem from Liverpool poet Roger McGough, who is president of the Poetry Society.
He wrote:
She spoke volumes quietly.
Is everywhere and will remain so
Our shared interest, our common currency
The nation cannot let her go.
Stars untwinkle one by one
The moon, in shock, averts its gaze
No words express the grief we feel
How we loved thee, let us count the ways.
The future, fearful, has gone awol
Life goes on but not the one we know
Though wreaths and words may wither
The nation will not let her go.
Guns fall silent, the flag lowered
She who kept us close is gone
Winter is composing a sad anthem
It will play on and on and on.
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