Her Majesty's heartrending tribute to her 'dear late husband': Queen kept Prince Philip close with a photo of him in middle of a flight of monarch butterflies

 The Queen paid tribute to her 'dear late husband' Prince Philip by wearing a rarely-seen diamond and ruby brooch  she received as a wedding gift alongside a photograph of the Duke surrounded by Monarch butterflies in 1988, as she made an intensely personal speech at the Cop26 summit. 

Her Majesty, 95, who was forced to miss the conference after her overnight stay in hospital last month, told leaders via video 'to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship' as Government representatives attended the reception for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. 

In her most personal speech to date, she said 'none of us will live forever' and 'we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children's children, and those who will follow in their footsteps' as she urged leaders to reach decisive COP climate change deals. 

During the speech, the monarch also paid tribute to Prince Philip and described how 'the impact of the environment on human progress' was a subject close to the heart of her 'dear late husband' - who in 1969 told a gathering: 'If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.'   

The monarch donned the glittering butterfly brooch, which was a gift from the Dowager Countess of Onslow at her wedding to the late Prince Philip, in 1947 and is rarely worn by the royal. 

It tied in perfectly with a photograph placed behind her on a table of Prince Philip surrounded by Monarch butterflies, which was taken in Mexico in 1988.

The Queen, 95, wore a rarely-seen diamond and ruby brooch she received as a wedding gift as she made an intensely personal speech at the Cop26 summit

The Queen, 95, wore a rarely-seen diamond and ruby brooch she received as a wedding gift as she made an intensely personal speech at the Cop26 summit

The monarch has worn the piece less than a handful of times in the last couple of years (pictured)

The monarch has worn the piece less than a handful of times in the last couple of years (pictured) The monarch has worn the piece less than a handful of times in the last couple of years, last opting for the brooch for a virtual engagement days before Prince Philip's 100th birthday.

She also wore  the brooch for a church service in Sandringham in 2019.

Before that, the Queen hadn't worn the glittering brooch since 2012, when she wore the first to visit the Sandringham Women's Institute.  Meanwhile an image was propped behind her on a table of Prince Philip visiting Mexico in February 1988. 

The Duke was the first President of the World Wildlife Fund UK, from its formation in 1961 to 1982, and International President of WWF (now World Wide Fund for Nature) from 1981 to 1996.

On behalf of the WWF in February 1988, he visited the threatened winter habitat of the Monarch butterfly in Sierra Chincua, Michoacan State, Mexico, where the image captured the moment he was surrounded by a cloud of the monarch butterflies. 

The heirloom was a gift from the Dowager Countess of Onslow at her wedding to the late Prince Philip, in 1947 and is rarely worn by the royal

 The heirloom was a gift from the Dowager Countess of Onslow at her wedding to the late Prince Philip, in 1947 and is rarely worn by the royal

It tied in perfectly with a photograph placed behind her on a table of Prince Philip surrounded by Monarch butterflies, which was taken in Mexico in 1988

The photograph, which has rarely been seen in public, was first displayed at the Prince Philip: Celebrating Ninety Years exhibition in 2011 at Windsor Castle.  

Prince Philip would have been 'embarrassed' by Queen's 'wonderful' but 'deeply personal' speech at COP26 highlighting her late husband's dedication to the environment as a 'great source of pride', Duke's biographer claims 

Prince Philip would have been 'embarrassed' by the Queen's 'deeply personal' speech praising his dedication to the environment representatives at the COP26 summit tonight, the late Duke's biographer has claimed.  

Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, royal biographer Robert Jobson, who penned Prince Philip's Century, called the speech 'wonderful', but says Philip, who died aged 99 in April, would have been left red-faced by the public show of affection.'

'I thought it was a wonderful, deeply personal touch. A tribute to a man of vision, that Prince Philip was. He would have been embarrassed. But it shows how rightly proud she was of him,' he explained.

'He was a great champion for nature and the environment. A farsighted man who did so much to help preserve endangered species on this planet through his creation of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature of which he was a driving force in creating.' 

The Queen's stern intervention, which was displayed on screens during a VVIP reception at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum, came hours after the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India will target net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 - two decades later than the targets for the conference - disappointing many delegates. 

It also comes after Boris Johnson kicked off the climate change summit by exhorting world leaders to back up their talk on climate change with action - warning it was 'one minute to midnight'.

The PM used his speech at the opening of the summit as a rallying cry to try to build momentum as he welcomed foreign leaders to Glasgow after securing only lukewarm climate commitments at the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend. 

Meanwhile Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, today accused countries of 'treating nature like a toilet' as he warned of a looming 'climate catastrophe'. 

During her speech tonight Her Majesty said: 'I am delighted to welcome you all to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference; and it is perhaps fitting that you have come together in Glasgow, once a heartland of the industrial revolution, but now a place to address climate change. 

'This is a duty I am especially happy to discharge, as the impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. 

'I remember well that in 1969, he told an academic gathering: ''If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be, that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time … If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.''

Her Majesty went on to describe how it gave her 'great pride' that the efforts of her late husband to protect 'our fragile planet' now lived on through the work of her eldest son Charles and her grandson William. 

She continued: 'It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. 

'I could not be more proud of them. Indeed, I have drawn great comfort and inspiration from the relentless enthusiasm of people of all ages – especially the young – in calling for everyone to play their part.' 

The monarch called on leaders to create a 'safer, stabler future' for the generations ahead and said it was the hope of many that the legacy of this summit 'will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity'.

She continued: 'In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.

'None of us underestimates the challenges ahead: but history has shown that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope. Working side by side, we have the ability to solve the most insurmountable problems and to triumph over the greatest of adversities.

The monarch, who was speaking via video, also paid tribute to Prince Philip and described how ' the impact of the environment on human progress' was a subject close to the heart of her 'dear late husband'

The monarch, who was speaking via video, also paid tribute to Prince Philip and described how ' the impact of the environment on human progress' was a subject close to the heart of her 'dear late husband' 'For more than seventy years, I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world's great leaders. And I have perhaps come to understand a little about what made them special.

'It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics. But what they do for the people of tomorrow — that is statesmanship. I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship.

'It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit – written in history books yet to be printed – will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations.

'That you left this conference as a community of nations with a determination, a desire, and a plan, to address the impact of climate change; and to recognise that the time for words has now moved to the time for action.'

The Queen's deeply personal speech to world leaders at COP26 

'Thank you, Prime Minister Holness, for your kind words of introduction. I am delighted to welcome you all to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference; and it is perhaps fitting that you have come together in Glasgow, once a heartland of the industrial revolution, but now a place to address climate change.

'This is a duty I am especially happy to discharge, as the impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

'I remember well that in 1969, he told an academic gathering: 'If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be, that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time … If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.'

'It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William.

'I could not be more proud of them. Indeed, I have drawn great comfort and inspiration from the relentless enthusiasm of people of all ages – especially the young – in calling for everyone to play their part.

'In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.

'None of us underestimates the challenges ahead: but history has shown that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope. Working side by side, we have the ability to solve the most insurmountable problems and to triumph over the greatest of adversities.

'For more than seventy years, I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world's great leaders. And I have perhaps come to understand a little about what made them special.

'It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics. But what they do for the people of tomorrow — that is statesmanship.

'I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship.

'It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit – written in history books yet to be printed – will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations.

'That you left this conference as a community of nations with a determination, a desire, and a plan, to address the impact of climate change; and to recognise that the time for words has now moved to the time for action.

'Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today: we none of us will live forever. But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children's children, and those who will follow in their footsteps. And so, I wish you every good fortune in this significant endeavour. '

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