'What are you doing here?' Doncaster MP recalls Queen's quip after losing Labour leadership

The Doncaster North MP was among dozens of MPs and politicians paying tribute to Her Majesty in the House of Commons following her death last Thursday.

Mr Miliband revealed that he had had a number of meetings with the monarch – and revealed an insight into her waspish sense of humour.

He said: “I was deposed by the British people rather than my party, but as my career nosedived my wife’s took off.

“In 2019, she became a High Court judge and a dame. We were therefore both invited to the Palace to meet Her Majesty.

"As we saw each other, Her Majesty fixed me with her gaze and said, “Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here?”, knowing full well why I was there, and we had a wonderful conversation.

"There she was at 93, still full of vim, vigour and humour. There is a lesson for us all in the kindness she showed to me and to other Members of the House.”

“I was Leader of the Opposition, as the House will know. It is noted that the Queen experienced 15 Prime Ministers.

"I think we have lost count of how many Leaders of the Opposition she went through, which perhaps says something about Leaders of the Opposition.

"One thing that has come through so much since Her Majesty’s passing is the phrase “public service.”

"I want to reflect on some extraordinary qualities that she showed in terms of public service, including, first of all, her ability to bring people together and unify our country.

"I was at the state banquet in 2014 for the President of Ireland—a state banquet attended by the late Martin McGuinness. It showed extraordinary selflessness, courage and an ability to heal that Her Majesty invited Martin McGuinness, given the history of what happened to Lord Mountbatten, but that was the person that she was; her duty to our country and to bring people together came first.

“I also want to say something about her sense of humour.

"I go back to a time in 2008, when I had recently been appointed as Secretary of State for Climate Change and I went to my first ever Privy Council meeting.

"Her Majesty was reading out laws that were being passed. As she did so, she paused for a moment, because she was having trouble reading, and she said, “Yes, it’s these new long-life lightbulbs that we have introduced.”

"She fixed me with a beady gaze and a twinkle in her eye, and I smiled. That was the sense of humour that she showed.

“Her Majesty was an extraordinary monarch, but I also want to say a word about King Charles III.

"He has been an extraordinary warrior on the issue of the environment, long before it was fashionable.

"When I was Climate Change Secretary, I always thought of him as an extraordinary national asset on the issue, and he remains so.

"But he is not just a fighter for big causes; he is also someone – he has inherited this from his mother – of extraordinary kindness, generosity and compassion.

"We see it in his work to heal social divisions in our country, but I have also seen it in my constituency, which was hit by floods in 2007 and 2019. On both occasions, including on the first, when part of my constituency was still under water, he came to see my constituents, to talk to them and to be with them – including, on the second occasion, just before Christmas – because he knew that his presence, at that time of anguish, grief and anxiety, would make an enormous difference to my constituents, and indeed it did.

“We have lost an extraordinary monarch who had an extraordinary and distinguished reign over seven decades. She is followed by someone who I know will live up to all the hopes of our country, and who will bring that same sense of unity, compassion and public service. Long live the King.”