Tonight, The Queen gave a nationwide address to her people as we approach what is thought to be the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.
In a TV message filmed from Windsor, that was also shared across the Royal Family social media channels and the Commonwealth, Her Majesty spoke about the fantastic work of frontline workers who are keeping the UK going, from healthcare workers in the NHS, to shop staff.
“I want to reassure you, that if we remain united and resolute, we will overcome it,” was the main takeaway.
The Queen uses deeply personal words, describing the pandemic as “an increasingly challenging time”.
“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” The the Monarch said. “And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.”
The Queen’s video broadcast
“The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.”
Footage interspersed through the message showed NHS staff working, supermarket staff dealing with deliveries, and even the #ClapforourCarers movement, thanking those who are taking care of us with applause.
Drawing a little on religion, and the upside of lockdown, The Queen said: “Many people of all faiths – and none – are finding an opportunity to pause and reflect in prayer or meditation.”
Elizabeth II mentioned her “very first broadcast in 1940,” when she was “helped by my sister” in speaking to evacuated children and noted the similarity to today.
‘We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety.
“Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones,” she said, but that we know “it is the right thing to do.”
Her Majesty described this crisis as ‘different’, due to the global scale of the issue.
This is only the fifth video message The Queen has given to her people in her 68-year-reign. Two were at times of royal deaths, one was for her Diamond Jubilee, and the other at the time of the Gulf War in 1981.
“I also want to thank those of you who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.
“Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.”
Talking positively, the 93-year-old explained: “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”
“I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all,” The Queen signed off.
This is one of the positives of having a Royal Family: so much of this pandemic has turned political: how the crisis was handled, the speed of the reaction etc. But the apolitical head of state is a figure who can unite.
Watch the speech below:
