In a life dedicated to the nation, perhaps the Queen’s ‘finest hour’ came when that nation needed her most
IN A LIFE dedicated to the nation, perhaps the Queen’s “finest hour” came when that nation needed her most.
With Britain in the grip of Covid, she evoked Vera Lynn and the wartime spirit in a rousing televised speech.
Promising better times ahead, she told lockdown Brits: “We will meet again.”
She led the way out of the pandemic by letting the world know when she had her vaccination.
And she showed others the way out of loneliness by mastering video calls both for work and for chatting to loved ones.
Then, when Covid stopped street parties and celebrations for the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May 2020, the Queen stood up to be counted again.
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In a TV address, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish.
“Instead we remember from our homes and from our doorsteps.”
And added: “Our streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other”.
When the pandemic struck, terrified aides scrambled to set up “HMS Bubble” to protect both the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
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The fear that the Queen, then 94, could die from Covid was very real.
But the sight of a healthy monarch addressing subjects feeling scared, isolated and in many cases grieving boosted morale.
The Queen’s mantra was always: “I need to be seen to be believed”. And her stirring televised speech two weeks into the first lockdown was watched by 24 million people.
In her rallying cry from Windsor Castle, she said: “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.”
The Queen added: “Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.”
She thanked the NHS workers at the front line, and Brits for staying indoors and protecting the vulnerable.
She went on: “I hope that in 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 part of our past, it defines our present and our future.”
Royal biographer Andrew Morton recalled: “It was brilliant and brought the country together. It was her finest hour.”
The virus crept closer to the Queen when an aide at the palace was struck down, and Prince Charles and Prince William both caught the coronavirus.
As lockdown was enforced, the Queen was herself forced to cancel engagements and was cut off from her friends, family and work, to live at Windsor. HMS Bubble restrictions were brought in as a loyal band of 24 aides worked three weeks on and three weeks off to guard keep her safe.
Buckingham Palace summer garden parties were cancelled and birthday celebrations for Trooping the Colour massively scaled down.
Despite the restrictions, the Queen continued working, reading government red boxes, speaking to the PM on the phone and carrying out engagements via video calls.
One defining moment saw her step from her bubble to knight charity kingpin Captain Tom Moore.
She did not emerge in public outside Windsor Castle for seven months until a trip to see how scientists at Porton Down were tackling the virus.
It was the longest absence from public duties during her reign. But from a computer screen she saw a new statue of herself in Australia, watched footage from Mars and spoke with Covid heroes.
Of course there were glitches, but she took these in her stride.
During one virtual visit the connection was cut briefly before she appeared on screen. She said: “You just disappeared — all of you.”
‘We will meet again’
Technology also meant the Queen got to see Harry, Meghan and Archie in their £11million Montecito mansion.
But she was forced back into lockdown to spend Christmas without her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, by her side.
In her Christmas Day address she rallied the nation yet again, saying: “We need life to go on.” She reassured lonely Brits: “You are not alone”. Then, as Britain led the world in the vaccination rollout, the Queen patiently waited her turn before announcing Royal doctors had administered the first dose at Windsor Castle on January 9.
She later allayed fears that some had about the needle, describing her jab as “harmless” and “very quick”, adding: “It didn’t hurt at all.”
Of those reluctant to be vaccinated, she said: “They ought to think about other people.”
An irony of the Covid restrictions was that it brought Philip and the Queen even closer together than they had been for years. The couple marked their 73rd wedding anniversary at Windsor and were by each other’s side almost every day until Philip’s health deteriorated.
In February the Duke spent four weeks in hospital having treatment for an infection and heart surgery. He returned to Windsor Castle and died 24 days later.
The Queen, as stoic as ever, was back at work four days after his death.
But Covid restrictions saw her sit alone at his funeral as she watched Philip’s coffin interred in the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel. Now, with the Queen set to join her husband in the vault, her Covid address has even greater poignancy.
“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.