Queen Elizabeth II just gave a pre-recorded address to Britain, which of course was broadcast around the world.
As you would expect, the Queen displayed that famous English stiff upper lip and sense of understatement, much as she did during World War II. It was only her fourth such speech since assuming the throne on February 6, 1952.
I found this rather ‘dry’ speech to be quite emotional, at least for me. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was the sense of history from having this Queen deliver it. Perhaps it’s because, being just one generation removed from WWII, her wartime role still stirs something deep within me.
“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.
“I want to thank everyone on the NHS (National Health Service) front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue 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 who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones. Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.
“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 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.
“The moments when the United Kingdom has come together to applaud its care and essential workers will be remembered as an expression of our national spirit; and its symbol will be the rainbows drawn by children.
“Across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbours, or converting businesses to help the relief effort.
“And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.
“It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister. 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. 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.
“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.”
Flashback to 1940:
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Comments
She’s 93 years old and sharper than Biden.
And she’ll be 94 in just over two weeks.
There are many CEO’s and Business Owners who are into their post 80’s age of life and stay actively involved into their affairs of their business and community. Alas, Biden is not one of them. It’s shameful for those who know him best, family and close friends, who haven’t stepped in to protect him from further public display’s of his incompetence. A load he is proving to be incapable of carrying.
Biden is an addled victim of a degenerative disease of some sort – which is fitting for a degenerate like him.
May he rot in front of public, and die a humilating way.
He is a theif and a traitor.
I, also, felt very touched. She both expressed and embodied the spirit she asked of her people.
“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.”
Anyone want to compare her speech to the ones Obama gave her of his on that iPod? She has been there, lived it, survived it and carried on. Please keep Charles far away from her.
“She’s 93 years old and sharper than Biden.” Rather an understatement that.
God Save the Queen. Please.
Let’s see how the UK responds after this blows over, and if they still give Huawei that 5G contract.
much more backbone than her son and some of her grandchildren
I think she really is trying to outlive her son. If he died tomorrow, she would probably let William take over.
I understand the feeling, but her mother really really disapproved of the Dutch queens’ practice of abdicating at 65, as if the monarchy were a job. Also, in that family “abdication” is a dirty word since her uncle upended all their lives by his abdication, and they blame her father’s early death on it. So I think that so long as she is physically able to do the job she would see retiring as an indulgence that she must resist.
But it still looks like she’s trying to make sure Charles never takes the throne.
Oh, yes, certainly. At least I hope so. Even though I don’t really think he’s a secret Moslem. Not really. It’s enough that he’s an idiot. And yet, there’s still that niggling worry…
How? By living? She’s not going to abdicate, and she’s apparently quite healthy. Her mother died at 101.
And don’t forget her radio pledge a few years before she became Queen:
She clearly meant it, and still does.
Thank God we didn’t have to listen to her son or one of her grandsons deliver the woke-scold version of this speech.
God save the Queen. And PM Johnson too!
Johnson has been hospitalized. High fever won’t go away.
There’s more than a bit of Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again”–which bucked up so many in W II–in that speech.
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
The Queen is speaking as a head of state giving solace to the nation. I can’t imagine Nancy Pelosi–or Hillary Clinton–or Fauxcahontas being capable of such. OTOH Nikky Haley, or a Condi Rice or a Sarah Palin could do it in an instant.
I don’t think even they could do it, because by the nature of our constitution they are partisan players, so half the country can’t wholeheartedly identify with them. Half the country, even with all the good will in the world (which we know would likely be absent), could not help analyzing whatever they say in a partisan light, and looking for the subtle digs, the pursuit of an agenda, that they would fear were hidden even in an apparently nonpartisan speech. You know we would be the same way if it were a Democrat who delivered such a speech. We can’t help it; the speaker’s history has to affect how we view the speech.
That’s the point of a nonpartisan monarchy. Because the Queen stays strictly out of partisan politics, and nobody but those who’ve served her as prime minister even knows what her opinions are, she can speak to everyone equally and have her words accepted by everyone equally.
The republicans and the Labour Party might disagree.
Whenever I hear the song what immediately comes to my mind’s eye/ear is Major Kong riding a Little Boy/Fat Man, bucko-bronco style, as he makes his way to the ICBM base at Laputa,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YgdrhrCM8
We need more of this. I didn’t know she gave this message until coming here. Thank you for posting it.
Interestingly the news that Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital was announced immediately after this speech. I truly admire the Queen. Life in a fishbowl constrained by never ending duty to her country couldn’t have been an easy life, and she has performed flawlessly.
Winston Churchill would have approved. Class personified.
and he set the bar impossibly high. Read “The End of the Beginning.” It’s a record of his speeches before Parliament during the early days of WWII. I get goose bumps just thinking about his fabulous, stoic prose.
her grace, her poise, her serenity under pressure is legendary
england and the commonwealth are fortunate indeed to have had a monarch like her and for so long as well
god save the queen indeed
She was and is a great, great monarch. But sacrifices came with it, namely in her relationships with her children, though every parent has ‘regrets’ and other issues vis a vis their children – except this family was raised under a public microscope. Lots of pressure.
Charles was a sensitive boy, and hardy an alpha male. That’s a tough recipe for a Crown Prince. Andrew is a stonger personality, but pathetically weak and self destructive in his sexual impulses. (Then again, so was John F. Kennedy.)
Prince William seems to have it together, and was a first-born. Harry is the product of two genetically sensitive parents, and he suffered the loss of his mother in a very public, ugly way at a crucial age. No surprise he went for an older woman. But the nauseating, high-mileage megan markel?? Man, did she play that poor kid. Literally ruined his life. But he was vulerable, and incredibly unlucky that the ‘strong’ woman who found him was a cheap hustler like markel. If he just kept looking a little longer, he could have had it all.
Harry was gaslighted by markel, a malignant narcissist: https://narcissisticbehavior.net/the-effects-of-gaslighting-in-narcissistic-victim-syndrome/
In any event, “King Charles” will be weak tea, and could doom the Royalty – he’s just not fit for the times.
On the other hand, Prince William and Kate are bulletproof, and their children will likely be as classy and disciplined as Kate – if the British Monarchy survives Charles.
Look for Harry to be dumped by markel, now that she has his dough, after which she’ll be pursuing divorce number 3 in her quest to catch up to Jeff Bezo’s girlfriend Lauren Sanchez (she’s on number 4, and probaby trying to rope sexually naive nerd Bezos into number 5), after which Harry will make his way back home, a very beaten man. But who knows: maybe he’ll find inspiration amongst his former military friends and find his way back from the dark.
Agreed. Good analysis.
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This:
“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 the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.”
Can we rejoin The Empire for a bit?
Worse than the China Virus, worse than war, worse than the IRA is Islam within the UK: that will be its death.
We never really left. Read Churchill’s “History of the English Speaking Peoples” for some perspective. Our ties to this nation are deep and solid, fused into our national DNA.
Hmmm. I’m not entirely sure we’re dealing with “This was their finest hour”-magnitude material here.
Nor is this the England of WWII. Good candiditae now for a Vichy Britain.
I have always loved the Queen
The Queen noted a light at the end of the tunnel. Trump was bashed for saying the same in presser. I’d love to see that reporter ask that same point to her and see how that would go over. She doesn’t suffer fools… tolerates them as shown by some of our presidents.
Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl
But she doesn’t have a lot to say
Wrong!
I am not a fan of the monarchy but QE2 has been exceptional. All the words used here – grace, class, dignity, duty, service – apply to her many times over. Indeed if not for her Britain might have ditched the institution altogether.
It is also remarkable that she has kept herself relevant for nearly 70 years now. Unlike – now who was that guy who was POTUS just before Trump?
I will never understand American’s fascination with the British monarchy.
I have nothing against Queen Elizabeth and as far as British monarchs go, she seems to be all right, but other than being dignified in her dotage, I feel no particular admiration or respect for her.
The entire concept that a person should be idolized, pampered and cared for their entire life at the taxpayer’s dime for no reason other than the lineage from which they are descended is abhorrent to me.
She’s had her every need fulfilled for her from the day of her birth. She’s never spent a day hungry, or without (brand new expensive) clothes, or shelter. She’s never had to wonder whether the extra hours from the second or third job is going to pay enough to keep the lights on. She’s never had to worry about getting a pink slip during the current round of layoffs.
I could go on, but the bottom line is, there’s nothing admirable or praiseworthy about an entire family living lavish, wealthy lifestyles, while on welfare their entire lives.
I could say the same thing of some of the political dynasties in the US, but at least in the US, the parasites living their whole lives on our dime have to cheat us to do it.
If you look at the institution from a strictly utilitarian point of view, what you say is true. But there’s more to it than that. The British have an extremely strong sense of tradition which helps them stay grounded in a changing world. Every ship needs an anchor and she is theirs.
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If you look at the institution from a purely utilitarian point of view … it makes a pretty good argument for itself.
Commonly it’s called separating head of govt from bead of state. I’d add separating out “head, figurehead, of a people.” England’s Queen makes sense as a symbol of “who we are” and more “who we aspire to be.” That helps. Maybe in a pandemic. Maybe when shenanigans around Brexit go too far, n long, n it’s time to say “time to have an outcome.”
One aspect of Fascism: the Maximum Leader claims to speak for the essence of the people. Having that claim tied up, and limited to persuasion n example seems a better plan.
You’re right. You never will. All I know is that the British seem to like it. Get a sense of history before you construct your dictatorship of the proletariat. One size does not fit all.
Every now and again, some minor European nobleman shows up in a uniform his butler found for him in a closet. Then he’s shown reviewing the troops. Saw a pic of somebody like that putting flowers in a grave–US WW II site. Guy even had a little harness on his left side holding a very small–symbolic only–sword not much bigger than your larger letter opener.
The Brit royals have been different. They’ve shown up for the wars. The Queen’s father was at Jutland. After becoming King, he did his king thing, took a shift at an aircraft factory where everybody knew who he was but pretended he was just “Alf”. And was “Wing Commander Smith” at SHAEF meetings. Phillip was in the Med in the RN. Charles commanded a minesweeper during the earlier part of the Cold War. Randy Andy flew choppers in the Falklands. William flew rescue helicopters. Harry was a FO–or whatever they call them these days for his first tour, and was on attack helicopters for his second tour.
Elizabeth and the rest of her family stayed in London rather than evacuate.
If you have to have a monarchy, these are the real deal.
May I ask where you got these tidbits? I couldn’t find them on a quick web search. Either I used the wrong terms, or they’re harder to dig up than one would expect.
During WWII, Princess Elizabeth not only stayed in London, but she trained & worked as a mechanic in the Women’s Auxiliary of the Army.
Here’s an article with a photo of her changing a tire on an Army vehicle back then, in uniform:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/was-queen-elizabeth-ii-really-a-mechanic-during-wwii/
Every ship needs an anchor and she is theirs.
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perfectly stated–not only an anchor but a living, breathing human being whose character and dignity are acknowledged throughout the world
may we too, be able to preserve some of our own dignity and integrity for a thousand years
If you have to have a Queen, she’s a good one. It reminds me of the scene in “Unforgiven” in which English Bob is discussing why American presidents can be assassinated, but not English royalty. He said something like “The moment you realized the magnitude of what you were doing, the majesty of your target, you’d be dumbstruck, unable to pull the trigger.”
What a majestic “presence.” She’s the longest reigning monarch in the history of the world, and a great one.
My dad served on convoy duty during WWII, He called the British “the toughest sons of bitches on Earth.” She’s living proof that my father got it right.
Not quite. Give her 4 more years and she will be.