Queen Elizabeth II delivered her address to the UK and the Commonwealth at 8pm on Sunday as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the globe. Buckingham Palace shared details of the Queen’s speech earlier this week and revealed it was pre-recorded on Thursday. Evoking the poignant words of Dame Vera Lynn’s famous World War 2 song We’ll Meet Again, the Queen issued a deeply personal message of hope.
She said: “This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.
“We will succeed – and that success will belong to every one of us.
“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.
“But for now, I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all.”
The Queen opened her address by saying: “I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time.
“A time of disruption in the life of our country.
“A disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulty to many and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.”
The Queen went on to thank the many service people allowing Britain to cope during the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: “I want to thank everyone on the NHS frontline as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles.
“Those that selflessly carry out their day to day duties outside the home in support of us all.
“I am sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times.
“I also want to thank those of you that are staying at home, thereby helping protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.”
She added: “I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.
“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 pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.