Britain’s Queen Elizabeth on Sunday joined the chorus of world figures weighing in on the coronavirus pandemic.
As of April 4, 2020, Queen Elizabeth had only delivered three speeches in response to current events during her entire 68-year reign: one, about the Gulf War. The second, after the death of Princess Diana. And third, after the passing of the Queen Mother.
At the time of her speech, the country had over 47,000 cases of the virus, and there was concern that the government may put in place stricter measures as some in the country fail to adhere to social distancing rules.
There are a lot of things to take away from this address.
Sacrifice and Endurance
First is the message of sacrifice and endurance which directly plays upon the legacy of her own experience, and thus Britain as a whole, during World War II. The country has faced turmoil before and shown the perseverance to get through it.
Unity
The queen highlighted that this is a global struggle against the virus, and therefore, as one human race, we must work together in the pursuit of common goals and values.
The Queen added: ‘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.
No blame game
In a rare televised speech, she offered no bluster, no drama, no scolding reminder that only six feet of distance stand between you and possible death. Nor were there any of the claims of accomplishment and ascriptions of blame that have become a staple on these shores. Instead, she offered comfort, gratitude to her nation’s health workers, a belief that life will go back to normal, and this simple poetic coda:
Queen’s speech becomes second most-watched broadcast in 10 years
According to overnight ratings, a staggering 24million people tuned in to watch her majesty as she declared that the UK ‘will succeed’ in beating the deadly COVID-19, becoming the second-highest TV rating in over 10 years.
“It is, therefore, inherently wrong to use the outbreak as a political blame game to subsequently attack, deride and score points against certain countries for political gain. We are better than that, and we must rise to the challenge,”
Hope for the future
Comparing the ‘challenging’ pandemic to the Second World War, the monarch, 93, said she hoped that everyone would be able to ‘take pride’ in their present actions in the ‘years to come’. She continued: ‘Those who come after us will say 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.
Final Line
The final line, “We’ll Meet Again,” is from a 1939 song by Vera Lynn that came to define the way the war wrenched families apart with no guarantee of survival.
