she received countless heads of state as well as innumerable prime ministers. and it was her abiding trustworthiness as well as her hospitality which kindled friendship and confidence. in her role as head of the commonwealth she presided over a growing fellowship of nations and she embraced our diverse histories, cultures and languages, delighting in the sheer variety of this unique assembly. and at times when countries threatened to walk threatened to forsake each other, she displayed the skilful use of that soft power which i mentioned earlier, that way of exercising power that has reach and depth. in wales that skill was never more evident than when she visited