South West 'clearly of significance' to the Queen

The south-west of England was "clearly of significance" to the Queen, a historian has said.

Prof Judith Rowbotham said her "fascinating reign" spanned the "jet age, the space age [and] digital age".

The Queen died on Thursday at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

Prof Rowbotham, visiting research professor at the University of Plymouth, said the Queen had "great affection towards the South West".

"While we talk about her love of Scotland, Sandringham, it's too easy to say that she didn't have interest in other areas but that was not true, the South West held an important part of her affections in national terms," she said.

When she was 13 the Queen accompanied her family, including King George VI, to Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

It was the first time she remembered meeting a young cadet - her future husband Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

Prof Rowbotham said the "great affection" was "partly because of her husband and partly because the South West was somewhere she visited regularly formally and informally".

"It was clearly of significance to her and she was also very close to the armed forces."

Prof Rowbotham said "for most of us" it was the first time the "continuity of the Queen as our head of state" was not there.

She said a lot had changed throughout her reign and towards the end the Queen was "engaging in Zoom and social media".

The Queen had a "very considerable readiness to use any of the technological tools that came to her hand so she could make sure people were able to keep in touch, and she could keep in touch with them".

"The transition from Empire to Commonwealth, the removal of powdered wigs from the heads of the royal footmen. She initiated, took advice and innovated still further."

She said the Queen was a "symbol of continuity, reassurance and stability but one who was prepared to adapt and change as necessary to keep in tune with her nation".

She said: "She was Queen in a time of great transition, the jet age, the space age, the digital age. She provided a sense of stability.

"She was the United Kingdom's principal diplomat and she was extremely good at that job, which is why there has been such an outpouring of respect, admiration and even a sense of loss from even outside the Empire, the Commonwealth."

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].