Sense of duty embodied by Queen being lost, warns May

Former prime minister Theresa May said the Queen had a devotion to public service.

Former prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May attend the Accession Council ceremony (PA) (PA Wire)

The sense of duty embodied by the Queen may be slipping away in public life, Theresa May has said.

The former prime minister said the Queen was “the most remarkable person” and an “example of devotion to duty”.

She told ITV’s Lorraine: “I think maybe there is a slight loss of that sense of duty.

“It becomes, for a lot of people, more about them rather than about other people and how they should be… working for other people.”

(Left-right front) Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Theresa May and Sir John Major ahead of the Accession Council ceremony at St James’s Palace, London, where King Charles III was formally proclaimed monarch (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

She added: “The late Queen Elizabeth was an example of devotion to duty par excellence.”

The former prime minister added: “She was the most remarkable person I’ve ever met.

“The combination of qualities she had, I haven’t come across in anybody else.

“I doubt we will see her like again.”

Mrs May spoke fondly about visiting the Queen at Balmoral, where the monarch sought to put guests at ease – including by playing cards by herself while others mingled.

The former prime minister said the Queen did not make herself the centre of attention at the gatherings.

She said the Queen wanted to be “a good hostess” who “wanted her guests to really feel at home, to enjoy the surroundings as much as she did and be able to relax”.

Mrs May said: “There would be occasions when, perhaps, everybody – guests – were milling around, perhaps chatting to each other, and the Queen was quite happy to sit in the room playing patience.

“She didn’t feel the need for everybody to be paying attention to her all the time.”