Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer 'privileged' to witness King Charles's first address to parliament as new monarch

Mrs Mortimer was at West Minster Hall on Monday morning where members of both Houses of Parliament expressed their condolences and the King responded.

Speaking from a gilded lectern, he promised to “faithfully to follow” the example of his mother and said he was “deeply grateful for the addresses of condolence.”

He said they “touchingly encompass what our late sovereign, my beloved mother the Queen, meant to us all”.

Later, the King flew to Scotland to lead a procession of the Queen’s coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral.

Mrs Mortimer said on her social media: “It was a great privilege to attend the presentation of the address in Westminster Hall this morning on behalf of you all.

"Last night I sang our National Anthem, God Save the King, for the first time at Evensong in St Margaret’s. It was an honour to sing it the second time in the presence of the new King and Queen Consort.”

At the weekend, Mrs Mortimer paid tribute to the Queen on behalf of Hartlepool in a special sitting of the House of Commons.

She described her as a head of state and leader, but also an animal lover and “country woman”.

Mrs Mortimer added: “In my sadness at hearing of the news of the Queen’s passing, I also felt solace in knowing she left this earthly dominion at the end of a glorious summer, before the cold of winter starts to bite, in a favourite place of her own, a castle of happy memories.”