We are servants of the crown

22 September 2022

As police officers we have been reflecting on the death of the Queen because we are servants of the Crown and that is something of which we and our families are all incredibly proud.

Essentially we worked for the Queen and swore allegiance to her when we took our oath so the role of the monarchy means a lot to us.

I was so impressed by everyone who was so keen to try to get involved with memorial events that were taking place locally and within London.

Pretty much from the moment the news of the Queen's passing was announced we had members calling up and asking if there was anything they could do to help here or assist our colleagues in the Met in any way.

Of course we were all deeply saddened by her passing. Officers feel incredibly proud and privileged to have served and worked for the Queen and obviously we were determined to give her the best possible funeral and support the new King on his accession to the throne.

My family and I went down to Windsor on the weekend after her death to pay our respects.

It was a really momentous occasion and we felt we needed to reflect upon it.

The overwhelming feeling in Windsor and in London was that of people coming together and every aspect of society was represented.

We saw old people, young people, people from different backgrounds, different religions, different cultures, different parts of the world all wanting to pay their respects.

You only had to switch on the news to see people were coming from all over the world to offer their condolences and pay their respects.

It was incredibly sad but I think it is amazing what can happen on occasions like this - it can bring everyone together.

Of course, it has also been a difficult month for the Force with the passing of a dearly-loved colleague who was a key part of our team.

Hertfordshire Police Federation and the Force have been supporting the officer's family and the colleagues he worked with.

I would like to reiterate that if anybody ever needs any kind of formal support our office doors are always open and your Fed reps are always willing to listen at any point. We are here for our members.

I will give a more detailed update on the work of the branch in the near future but I think for now, given what has happened over the last few weeks, both nationally and within our organisation, some things seem a lot less important.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need help, support or advice.