Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to welcome the way Britons have responded to the challenge of the novel Coronavirus in a rare special address on Sunday evening.
“I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” the Queen will say in her address, extracts of which were released beforehand by her services.
“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,” she will add in her speech to Britain and the Commonwealth nations, to be televised at 19:00 GMT (9 p.m. Belgian time).
Queen Elizabeth II’s special address was recorded at Windsor Castle, west of London, where the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, have been residing since the 19th of March, as a precautionary measure against Covid-19.
Aged 93 and 98 respectively, they are in the high-risk bracket. Their entourage say they are both in good health and have been following the Government’s instructions.
Their son and heir, Prince Charles (71) contracted the virus but has recently came out of quarantine and is also in good health.
The royal message comes on the heels of Saturday’s announcement of a new daily record of 708 new deaths from Covid-19 in the UK, including that of a five-year-old child. This brought the total number of deaths from the virus in British hospitals since the start of the epidemic to 4,313.
A total of 41,903 persons have tested positive for the virus, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Sunday night’s speech will be the fourth special address delivered by the Queen in times of crisis or mourning since she came to power 68 years ago.
The three others were in 1991, during the First Gulf War, in 1997, on the eve of the funeral of Princess Diana, and in 2002, after the death of her mother.
Another rare address outside her annual Christmas message to the nation was in 2012, when she went on TV to thank the public following the celebration of the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
The Brussels Times
