21st April 1926 – 8th September 2022 Reigned as Monarch from 1952 until 2022
The Lord-Lieutenant was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of The Queen. It was a day of great sadness for Greater Manchester, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. It was akin to the passing of the Head of a worldwide family of over 2½ billion people. It was an extraordinarily long reign; the longest of any British Sovereign and an outstanding example of service both in wartime and peacetime.
Since Greater Manchester was formed in 1974, Queen Elizabeth visited 28 times, visiting 74 different venues. She visited 9 times on her own and 19 times with her loving husband, The Duke of Edinburgh. Her first visit was in June 1977 and her last visit was in July 2021.
The Queen speaking to members of the community from across Greater Manchester at Manchester Cathedral
The most recent visit in July 2021 was to Coronation Street for their 60th Anniversary and Manchester Cathedral to mark the 600th Anniversary Celebration of the Collegiate Church. At the Cathedral she met groups of people from across the North West who were influential or had done extraordinary work within their local communities. Her Majesty wished to meet those who were very much hands on.
In 1992 she officially opened the Metrolink taking a ride on a tram to passer-by’s surprise. She met volunteers and staff during the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and attended the Squash and Hockey events. Along with the Duke of Edinburgh she came to Greater Manchester in March 2012 for her Diamond Jubilee, opening the Central University Hospital, visiting Children’s BBC (whilst the Duke visited Salford University) had lunch at Manchester town hall and then attended the Urban Garden party at Manchester Central (Greater Manchester’s spin on a royal garden party). Tens of thousands of people saw her, either at the hospital, lining the streets of Manchester and Salford, outside the town hall or in Manchester Central.
Following the Manchester Bomb in 2017 she came, and at least temporarily lifted everyone’s spirits, by visiting first responders, staff at the MRI and those injured and being treated.
The Queen was also represented at visits to over 1100 organisations or venues across Greater Manchester by other members of the Royal Family.
His Majesty King Charles III
The Lord-Lieutenant sent her Condolences to all the members of the Royal Family, looks back with gratitude and looks forward to offering her support and loyalty to The King.
On the 4th July Sir Warren Smith KCVO KStJ JP retired after serving for 15 years as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester.
Sir Warren was appointed as Justice of the Peace in 1983, was made a Deputy Lieutenant in 1995 and was selected as High Sheriff for Greater Manchester in the shrieval year 1997/98 before becoming the Lord-Lieutenant on the 24th June 2007, succeeding Col Sir John Timmins. Social exclusion had always been an interest for him, and he had chaired or had been a trustee of national, regional, and local organisations dealing with drug, alcohol and mental health problems, community relations, poverty and justice. He maintained an interest in these areas throughout his time as Lord-Lieutenant, particularly community relations and so it is no surprise that he developed the Lieutenancy to be as diverse and as inclusive as possible. Through active recruitment the Lieutenancy now reflects the cultural mix of Greater Manchester and has a gender balance.
Sir Warren with Sir John and James Timpson during a visit to present their Queens Award for Enterprise in 2019
Sir Warren became the patron or president of over 40 organisations whilst Lord-Lieutenant, and he will continue to work with several of them during retirement. His active interest in the work of these organisations along with his ideas to increase the visibility of the Lieutenancy and to contribute to the civic life of Greater Manchester kept him extremely active. For the years 2008-2021 he completed over 5200 engagements or meetings which is an average of 377 per year.
In addition to his engagements, he steered the Lieutenancy to promote the Queens Award for Voluntary Service which led to Greater Manchester having the most nominations and awards in the UK for last 5 years. Under his leadership the Lieutenancy has delivered several pilot programmes for the Honours and Appointments Office in Cabinet Office to increase the quantity and quality of Honours nominations especially for underrepresented groups. This culminating in the best Honour’s Lists in the past few years since Greater Manchester was created in 1974. The most recent lists have also had a much higher representation of ethnic minority groups than the national picture and Greater Manchester average. In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020, 32% of recipients in Greater Manchester were from an ethnic minority background.
Sir Warren greets HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh at Manchester Airport
During his tenure Sir Warren hosted 116 Royal visits to 340 venues including 6 visits of Her Majesty The Queen, either on her own, or with The Duke of Edinburgh. The first Royal Visit he hosted was a two day patronage visit by the Earl of Wessex in July 2007 and his last was the Princess Royal in June 2022 to the British Cardiovascular Society Centenary Conference.
Following the Manchester Atrocity in 2017 he supported Manchester City Council throughout the recovery. He helped organise and hosted visits by The Queen, The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge within the first few weeks of the aftermath. Subsequently he helped organise The visit of the Duke of Cambridge to the first anniversary and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the official opening of the Glade of Light Memorial this year. He is a member of the Memorial Trust and will remain so after retirement.
The Princess Royal knighting Sir Warren at Windsor Castle
In the NY Honours list 2020 he was Knighted, becoming a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. The Princess Royal conducted the investiture at Windsor Castle.
Sir Warren loves his garden, which doubled as his office and meeting place during fine days where visitors were also entertained by the everlasting energy of his Norfolk Terriers. Currently he has two – Esse and Bobby, Esse is very loving, and Bobby is a little mischievous to say the least. His dogs were even spotted by The Queen on a visit, when she arrived in a helicopter on the fields to the rear of his house. He enjoys cooking and entertaining friends at home and in the garden and Summerhouse – something he wants to do more of in retirement. He makes pots of lemon curd and bottles of Sloe Gin and Damson Whiskey which he regularly gifts to people.
Sir Warren hands the Ceremonial Sword to Mrs Hawkins
On the 3rd of July he handed over the ceremonial sword to the new Lord-Lieutenant Mrs Diane Hawkins, in the presence of the Lieutenancy, at afternoon tea at The Monastery Manchester. It was an emotional and enjoyable event and was especially poignant as it was the first full gathering of the Lieutenancy since the start of the pandemic.
Thank you Sir Warren for you generosity, knowledge and leadership of Greater Manchester Lieutenancy and your contribution to the Lieutenancy regionally and nationally.
It was today announced that his Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh had passed away. It is a day of great sadness for Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family and we offer to them the sincerest condolences from all of us at the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy.
His was a remarkable life of service both to her Majesty the Queen and to this Country. His career of exemplary service to this country started during the Second World War.
He visited Greater Manchester many times and had a long history of support for Salford University which started in 1953 when he succeeded his Majesty King George the Sixth as Patron of the Royal Technical College, Salford. In 1967 having merged with the Royal College of Advanced Technology he became the first Chancellor of the University of Salford. He visited the University many times as Chancellor and after he stood down in 1991 he continued to show an interest in the University opening the University’s Acoustic facility in 2008, and the University of Salford at Media City UK in 2012. Shortly before his retirement, he entertained the Vice-Chancellor and a small group from Salford University at a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University.
He opened the new terminal at Manchester Airport in 1962 which was then the first in Europe to incorporate a ‘pier’ system, in which passengers remain under cover until ready to board the aircraft. He revisited in 1993 to open Terminal 2.
His Royal Highness first considered the idea of a national programme to support young people’s development in the autumn of 1954 and launched the pilot for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme in February 1956. In 1979 he visited the scheme in Wigan, Oldham and Manchester and it thrives in Greater Manchester supporting young people across the County.
His visits across the county were countless and enjoyed by thousands of people; his service will be long remembered.
Flags across the County should fly at half mast until 8am on the day after the funeral of His Royal Highness and The Lord-Lieutenant will observe a period of Royal mourning until the 23rd April.
A book of Condolence can be found on the Royal website here
National awards can be given to individuals, groups of volunteers or businesses. Petitions and media campaigns can raise profiles and even demand awards but they actually won’t be awarded unless someone nominates them first. Nominations are straighforward and anyone can nominate.That someone can be you.
