Queen's Jubilee: Senedd tributes ahead of celebrations

Senedd members have paid tribute to the Queen ahead of celebrations starting next week to mark her Platinum Jubilee.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said the events would show the "deep respect" for her and express "the gratitude for her many years of selfless service".

Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said she had held Wales "deeply in her heart" over her 70-year reign.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price praised the "empathy" the Queen had shown after the 1966 Aberfan disaster.

She visited the south Wales mining village after a coal waste tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and surrounding homes and killing 116 children and 28 adults and over the following years.

Mr Price told the Welsh Parliament that it was a "rare occasion when she was reported as shedding a tear in public".

"One mother told a television reporter 'I remember the Queen walking through the mud, it felt like she was with us from the beginning'.

"Queen Elizabeth never forgot Aberfan.

"She visited in 1973 to open the new community centre and again in 1997 to mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy.

Mr Drakeford looked back to 1952, and a coronation day speech in which the Queen "having pledged herself to the service of her people, vowed 'throughout all my life, and with all my heart, I shall strive to be worthy of your trust'.

"And there is no doubt that trust has been earned over the 70 years that have followed," he said.

"The celebration and events of the coming weeks will be an indication of the deep respect in which the Queen is held and an expression of the gratitude for her many years of selfless service."

Members, including Andrew RT Davies, referred to the "warmth and pleasure" she had displayed when officially opening the Senedd, and its previous incarnation the Welsh Assembly, over the past two decades.

Mr Davies said the Queen has "held Wales deeply in her heart, in particular in the patronage she has shown to the Royal Welsh [agricultural show] to the Welsh Rugby Union and numerous charities and organisations which has helped raise the profile of and shown keen interest in those organisations".

"We do believe passionately that the Queen and the experience that she has gained over the 70 years has held what's best about Wales and what's best about Britain in every decision she has made for this country our united country, standing tall in the world," he added.

Conservative Natasha Asghar called her an "inspiration, role model and a huge stalwart to millions of people here in Wales, the rest of the United Kingdom and across the globe".

"She hasn't put a foot wrong throughout her reign and has been a constant figurehead for the UK during times of enormous change."

Mick Antoniw, Welsh government counsel general or senior legal adviser, was one of several politicians in the chamber in favour of scrapping the monarchy .

But he emphasised that "whatever one's views on the issue, whatever one's politics, whatever one's beliefs, there is one view I believe transcends all these differences".

"Throughout her life she has been an exemplar of the importance of public duty.

"What is also undeniable is the depths of affection and respect in which he is held both across this chamber and by many of those we represent."