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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Ashley Cowburn

Archbishop of Canterbury's warning to political leaders who 'cling to power'

Justin Welby has contrasted Queen Elizabeth II's "loving service" to leaders who "cling to power" in his sermon at the state funeral.

Addressing past and present prime ministers, royalty, and leaders from across the globe, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: "People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.

"But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten".

Referencing the late Queen's famous 1947 broadcast on her 21st birthday - to devote her "whole life" to serving the nation - the Archbishop said: "Rarely has such a promise been so well kept."

As thousands lined the streets of central London for a final farewell to Her Majesty, he added: "Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen".

In his sermon - delivered to 2,000 people in Westminster Abbey - the Archbishop said the grief felt by many arised from the Queen's "abundant life and loving service, now gone from us."

“She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.”

He also echoed the Queen's poignant address to the nation during the first Covid lockdown in April 2020, which she concluded with the words: "We will meet again".

The Archbishop told mourners: "We will all face the merciful judgment of God: we can all share the Queen's hope which in life and death inspired her servant leadership. Service in life, hope in death.

"All who follow the Queen's example, and inspiration of trust and faith in God, can with her say: 'We will meet again."

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