Your Majesties, your Royal Highnesses, Lady Mountbatten, my Lord Bishop, my lords, ladies and gentlemen.
The memorial which, your Majesty, I will shortly invite you to unveil, is to one of the great men of our time.
Lord Mountbatten holds a unique place in the history of the 20th century, as he does in the hearts and memories of those who knew him and served with him. [end p1] We have only to glance at a list of the posts in which he served and the honours he received to know the extent of his achievement.
To select but a few —Admiral of the Fleet, Privy Counsellor, Knight of the Garter, Order of Merit, decorated with the distinguished service medal of the United States a summary of his orders and decorations reads like a catalogue of the highest honours the Crown and [end p2] people of Britain and their allies have it in their power to bestow.
These letters, these high ranking titles and distinctions, are but the symbols of a life of service. —Service in two world wars, in the first as junior officer in the Fleet, in the second as one of the most distinguished of our national commanders. As Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia he played a major role in the liberation of Burma, paving the way for Burmese independence. [end p3] —Service as a statesman when he went to India, as its last Viceroy, to preside over the transfer of power from the old Indian empire to its successor states, and permanently to sweeten the relationships between the peoples of the subcontinent and Britain. —Service in keeping the peace, as first Sea Lord and as Chief of the Defence Staff. [end p4]
Yet despite all these distinctions, Lord Louis, as the people came to know him, never lost the common touch. He was as much admired and beloved by the ordinary seaman or soldier as by the highest officers and statesmen among whom he moved.
His friends in all walks of life, many of whom are here today, will have abiding memories of his professional skill, his technical mastery, his inventive mind, his strong sense of family, [end p5] his concern for the young, and his zest for life.
A gallant figure, royal, bold, steeped in tradition yet unconventional, Lord Louis served the land he loved, in peace with tireless devotion, in war with supreme bravery. He was a man to whom our nation could look to recall and inspire its spirit in action and its reverence of personal courage. [end p6]
He himself died at the hands of wicked men, but his work lives on.
Long ago, an ancient poet, recalling another famous seaman wrote: “Tell me of the man of many gifts who suffered many trials in the course of famous wars. He saw the cities of a host of men and knew their mind.”
Truly those words can be said of Earl Mountbatten. Your Majesty, I ask you to address us and unveil his memorial.