Macron's tribute to the Queen in full: "She embodied a people"

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the Queen Elizabeth II, saying she "embodied a people" and "represented a sense of eternity".

Here is her statement in full:

"Queen Elizabeth II comes from death. The United Kingdom will forever bear the seal of the one who embodied it for seventy years with unshakable strength and moral authority. France pays tribute to the one who marked the history of her country, of our continent and of her century.

"The young girl who, like all her countrymen, faced the bombardment of London during the war, was soon to become also the heiress presumptive, Elizabeth of York, who, at eleven, was a specta serious and impassive tor at his father's coronation. Later, she would become Honorary Junior Commander Elizabeth Windsor, a mechanic and paramedic in the British Armed Forces during World War II. As well as his wife and his mother. Then all these faces, all these names gave way to a single title, and a single profile printed on stamps, coins and the imagination of the whole world, the day the Archbishop of Canterbury placed on his head the crown which her father had left her so soon.

"Her Majesty Elizabeth II, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender faith", was born. Or quite simply, and these two words were sufficiently evocative: “The Queen”

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“From then on, she gave herself entirely to her Kingdom. Rarely have the subjects identified so much with their Sovereign, captivated by each of their looks and words, their outfits and gestures, representing both the heritage of the past and confidence in the future. She was one with her nation: she embodied a people, a territory and a common will. And stability: beyond the fluctuations and upheavals of politics, she represented a sense of eternity.

“She had a special status in France and a special place in the hearts of the French people. No foreign sovereign has climbed the steps of the Elysee Palace more often than she, who has honored France with six state visits and met each of its presidents. For her, French was not a mere relic of the Norman ancestry that persisted in so many customs, but an intimate and cherished language. The Queen of the Sixteen Kingdoms loved France, who loved her in return. Tonight the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth mourn their Queen. The people of France join them in their mourning.

“The one who accompanied the giants of the 20th century on the path of history has now gone to join them. The French Republic and the people of France express their longstanding friendship and deep sadness to His Majesty the King, the Royal Family, His Majesty's Government and the British people."