Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Remarks at QE2 Falklands lunch

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: QE2, moored at Southampton
Source: Thatcher MSS: speaking notes; link to BBC
Editorial comments: Lunch. MT spoke very briefly; she may well have departed radically from the prepared text.
Importance ranking: Minor
Word count: 252 words
Themes: Defence (Falklands)

BRIEF REMARKS ABOARD QE2

Now, as you will know, my doctors recently advised me to give up all public speaking – that just goes to show how little men understand women. But I just happen to have a few words at the ready and I promise that if you don’t tell, I won’t!

Miss Conover, Captain Wright, may I thank you and Cunard for this marvellous painting and for hosting a very special luncheon. Twenty years ago, this great ship was serving her country just as her illustrious predecessors had done before. For a few anxious weeks she became the base and the refuge for many of “our boys” as they waited to go into battle – the last reminder of home before they disembarked for an uncertain future.

Her crew played an integral and indispensable part in the military struggle to restore freedom to the people of the Falkland’s, and without her our final victory would neither have been as swift nor as sure. So, among the many outstanding moments in the QE2s long years of service I have no doubt that her “Falkland’s Days” will be regarded as her finest.

This wonderful painting will be a special reminder for me of all those who sailed in this ship and all who served during the Falklands War. And it will also be a reminder of the very best traditions of our country which they so valiantly upheld.

Link to BBC coverage of QE2 visit