Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, in a rare televised address tothe nation, invoked a war-time spirit of self-discipline and resolve to fightthe coronavirus pandemic which has killed nearly 5,000 in the country and about70,000 people globally, assuring Britons that “better days willreturn”.
The 93-year-old British monarch and Head of the 54-memberCommonwealth of nations which includes India, acknowledged the grief, pain andfinancial difficulties being faced the world over during this “time ofdisruption” and expressed the hope that the whole world was uniting in a”common endeavour”.
“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able totake pride in how they responded to this challenge,” she said on Sunday,in a four-minute speech recorded earlier this week at Windsor Castle.
“And those who come after us will say that the Britonsof this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes ofself-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling stillcharacterise this country,” she said.
The Queen, who has been based at Windsor Castle with her98-year-old husband Prince Philip since last month, called on the Britishpublic to draw on their inherent traits as she exhorted them to carry onfollowing the official government guidance to stay at home to protect thevulnerable and curb the rapid spread of the deadly virus.
“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasinglychallenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruptionthat has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormouschanges to the daily lives of us all,” the monarch said, as she went on tothank key workers, including carers and those on the frontline of the COVID-19fightback at the National Health Service (NHS) and acknowledged the pain feltby many families who have lost their loved ones in the pandemic.
The message was recorded in the White Drawing Room at hersprawling castle in Berkshire, south-east England by a single BBC camerapersondressed in a full-body protective suit as other technicians remained at aconsiderable distance in a separate room to comply with medical advice.
“We should take comfort that while we may have morestill to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; wewill be with our families again; we will meet again,” she said.
The Queen concluded her address by again calling for unitysaying, “we will succeed”.
Her “deeply personal” words were said to be chosento echo those of her father, King George VI, during World War II, aimed atbringing the country together in a time of crisis. Apart from her annualChristmas message, it is rare for the British monarch to make a specialaddress.
The previous times she addressed the nation in a similar waywas at the time of the Gulf war in 1991, on the eve of the funeral of PrincessDiana in 1997, on the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, and on the occasion ofher Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Downing Street said Sunday’s message was intended as a meansto “lift the nation’s spirits” amidst the strict lockdown rulesdesigned to slow the spread of coronavirus and prevent the NHS from beingoverwhelmed.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who remains inself-isolation as he recovers from mild symptoms of COVID-19, has beenconducting his weekly audiences with the Queen over the telephone.
“The Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Queen have beenspeaking regularly and No. 10 and Buckingham Palace have been speakingthroughout about Her Majesty the Queen’s address,” a Downing Streetofficial said.
“The Queen is the best judge of when to talk to thecountry and we absolutely agree that now is the right time. We have asked thecountry to make huge sacrifices and life is very difficult at the moment for agreat number of people. Hearing from Her Majesty at this time is an importantway of helping to lift the nation’s spirits,” the official said.
The Queen’s address came days after her son and heir, PrinceCharles, who came out of self-isolation a week ago having tested positive forCOVID-19, offered his own tributes to the NHS as he inaugurated a new makeshifthospital in London via video conference from his home at Birkhall in Scotland.
On Sunday, as many as 621 people in the UK died ofcoronavirus, taking the death toll to 4,934, the Department of Health saidafter England recorded 555 more deaths.
More than 1.2 million cases including over 69,000 deathshave been reported in 190 countries and territories around the world since thecoronavirus first emerged in China in December last year.