We are very sad about Sir Victor's personal decision to retire, although we respect and understand his reasons for it," he said.
He said he was sad about Sir Paul's resignation, but thought it was "the right call" since he was likely to be distracted by the speculation about his links with News International.
Other tributes included: Very sad news about Sir Terry Wogan.
Finally, there was the sad news that Sir John Maddox has died; he made Nature into a great magazine and it sounds, from the memories, like he had a lot of fun doing it.
Kubrick did not live to this sad day, but Sir Arthur C Clarke, the sci-fi novelist who sat down in 1964 to write the original 2001: A Space Odyssey, is still with us, 83 years old and confined to a wheelchair at his home in Sri Lanka, but stolidly determined to live out his fantasy and travel into space before he dies.
The waiter looked sad and sympathetic, "No, sir," he said.
"The queen was very sad to hear of Sir Hardy's death," Buckingham Palace said.
David Cameron tweeted: "Sad to hear of Sir Terry Pratchett's death, his books fired the imagination of millions and he fearlessly campaigned for dementia awareness".
Sir: How sad I feel on hearing the news that Judge Tumim is to stand down as Inspector of Prisons, as a result of the decision by the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, not to renew his contract.
"They are justified in helping a very sad lady toward rehabilitation," Sir Roy said in an interview after the French reported their findings at the Sixth International Symposium on Composite Tissue Allotransplantation.
