Queen Elizabeth will address the nation in a rare broadcast this weekend, praising NHS workers and calling for resolve and self-discipline from the public.
Her Majesty will broadcast the four-minute morale-boosting address at 8pm on Sunday, having made the recording earlier at Windsor Castle.
“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” she will say. “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 monarch broadcasts a Christmas message annually, while the Queen’s Speech in Westminster sets out the programme of legislation that the government intends to pursue in the forthcoming parliamentary session.
This, however, will be only the fourth time in her 68 years on the throne that she has given an off-calendar address to the nation during a time of crisis.
The other occasions were in 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, during the Gulf war in 1991 and ahead of the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002.
“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time,” she will say. “A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.”
The Queen will praise NHS workers on the front line, care workers and others carrying out essential roles. The 93-year old will also acknowledge the pain felt by many families amid the worst pandemic in living memory.
And she will thank citizens for following the official guidance to stay at home to protect the vulnerable.
Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, on Friday opened a temporary hospital facility at the ExCeL centre in east London via video-link — having just returned from self-isolation after contracting Covid-19.
Earlier in the week Prince Charles said the “challenging situation” threatened the livelihood and welfare of millions of people: “None of us can say when this will end, but end it will,” he said. “Until it does, let us all try and live with hope and, with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come.”
Officials said that before making the recording they sought advice from the “Medical Household” to mitigate any risk to the Queen or anyone else. BBC Studios Events produced the broadcast, using a room inside the castle to enable the maintenance of “an appropriate distance” between the monarch and the sole cameraman in the room.
