For only the fourth time in her 68-year reign, Queen Elizabeth addressed the U.K. during a primetime broadcast Sunday, warning of difficult days to come as the coronavirus crisis intensifies across the country. The speech was recorded at Windsor Castle, where she is currently self-isolating along with Prince Philip. In an emerald green crepe dress and matching brooch, the queen thanked the medical professionals of the NHS and discussed the importance of social distancing to reduce the virus’s spread.
“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 difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all,” she said. “Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.”
Though she was firm while she spoke about self-isolating, she concluded her message with a note of hope. “While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. 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,” she said. “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.” The line references “We’ll Meet Again,” a 1939 song by Vera Lynn that became a hit among soldiers leaving for battle. (Lynn’s recording was also played during the final scene of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.)
In her speech, she drew subtle connections to the difficulties Britain faced during World War II. “It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister,” she said. “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. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.”
The queen’s previous addresses during her reign have come at moments of stress for the country, like the onset of the Gulf War, or her own personal turmoil—the 1997 address that she gave after the death of Princess Diana and the death of the Queen Mother in 2002. The queen did not mention any of the people she knows personally who have contracted the virus. Last month, both Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced their coronavirus diagnosis; Charles has since recovered and is now out of isolation.
As of Sunday night, the U.K. has 47,810 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has recorded 4,934 deaths.
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