Daniel Kawczynski, the only Polish-born British Member of Parliament, paid a moving tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Below you can read his speech delivered on 13 September in the UK Parliament.
I rise on behalf of the people of Shrewsbury and surrounding Shropshire villages to pay tribute to Her Majesty. When I met Her Majesty at Buckingham palace, she looked at me and immediately started to tease me, ridden me mercilessly about the difference in height, she being five foot two and me being six foot nine. And, of course, that immediately broke the ice. I was so nervous meeting my sovereign for the first time. And that joke at the start of our interaction was so good to have. Later in the evening, she was standing at the other end of the room and in front of everybody, she made a gesture to demonstrate and continue teasing me that she recognized the difference in height.
But the most important thing that happened that evening was that she realized I was the only Polish-born British Member of Parliament. She started to talk to me about her pride in the contribution of Polish fighter pilots during the Second World War. She referenced the fact that the Polish 303 squadron shot down more enemy aircraft in the Battle of Britain than any other squadron. She paid tribute to the extraordinary contribution of Polish mathematicians and cryptographers, helping to break the Enigma codes and for joining the British Eighth Army in North Africa and at Monte Casino.
Of course, my heart melted. Being the only Polish-born British Member of Parliament and listening to our sovereign outlining her pride and talking about how her father had outlined his pride to her about the Polish contribution was something I will always remember. She reigned so successfully because she used emotional intelligence, which was her driving force. The communist regime in the country of my birth has been consigned to the ash heap of history because it ruled through fear, intimidation, and the secret police. It is gone. Whereas Her Majesty’s memory is eternal because of the love and kindness she showed us all.
You can watch the whole speech here:
Maria Byczynski
