“I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of Prince Philip.  He was an inspiration to many founding the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme in which so many of my constituents were involved along with his chairmanship of numerous British and worldwide organisations. His good humour and lack of stuffiness helped preserve the Royal Family in our nation in changing times.

“He came to the Lichfield constituency on a number of occasions and on my few meetings in London with him, I found him to be a charming and amusing individual full of knowledge and experience from his long and productive life.

“He is a desperately sad loss to the nation and my thoughts go out to Her Majesty the Queen and others in the Royal Family who will be grieving for him.  May he rest in peace.”