understanding, and example. queen elizabeth was a life well lived, a promise with destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. that promise of lifelong service i renew to you all today. alongside the personal grief that all my family are feeling, we also share with so many of you in the united kingdom, in all the countries where the queen was head of state, in the commonwealth and across the world, a deep sense of gratitude for the more than 70 years in which my mother as queen served the people of so many nations. in 1947 on her 21st birthday, she pledged in a broadcast from capetown to the commonwealth to devote her life, whether it be short or long, to the service of her peoples. that was more than a promise. it was a profound personal commitment which defined her whole life. she made sacrifices for duty. her dedication and devotion of sovereign never wavered, through times of change and progress, but times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadne