The Queen will issue a rallying cry to the nation on Sunday.
In her first televised address on the coronavirus crisis, she is expected to say: ‘We are in this together – and we will all get through it together, too’.It is only the fifth time the 93-year-old monarch has made a broadcast outside of Christmas.
She recorded the message at Windsor Castle, where she is living in isolation with her 98-year-old husband Philip.
The Queen speaks to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Windsor Castle on March 25 last week
In other developments in the Covid-19 crisis:
- The daily UK death toll rose again sharply to 684 and is predicted to peak next weekend;
- Two nurses in their 30s fell victim to the virus, each leaving behind three children;
- A grim looking Boris Johnson urged Britons not to leave home to enjoy the expected Easter sunshine;
- He has been forced to extend his self- isolation because of a high temperature;
- Half a million care home residents face becoming ‘abandoned victims’;
- NHS scientists said the Government’s pledge to test 100,000 people a day by May was likely to prove impossible;
- Teachers will grade their own GCSE and A-level pupils after exams were cancelled.
The four other times the Queen has made a special address were for the Gulf War, the death of Princess Diana, the death of the Queen Mother and her diamond jubilee.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the content in advance of the broadcast tomorrow night at 8pm, but the Mail understands the Queen will emphasise togetherness, highlighting the nation’s cohesion in the face of adversity.
She is also likely to praise health workers and all those who have been helping in the fight against Covid-19.
The Queen speaks to the nation in 1997 about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
The Queen recorded a brief televised address to the nation during the Gulf War in 1991
There had been speculation about when the head of state would make a public statement about the unprecedented national lockdown.
The Queen issued a written statement when she left London just over two weeks ago. Aides said the Government wanted to delay filming a broadcast because the pandemic was likely to worsen.
‘Her Majesty makes these television addresses very rarely so it’s important for her to choose the right moment to do so,’ a source said at the time.
‘As terrible as everything feels, we are only just in the early stages of this pandemic and the Queen has a very good sense of timing for these things to ensure that the most significant impact is felt. She will know the best time.’
The four other times the Queen has made a special address were for the Gulf War, the death of Princess Diana, the death of the Queen Mother (pictured) and her diamond jubilee
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is ‘feeling better’ after suffering from coronavirus but will remain in self-isolation until his temperature drops.
Meanwhile the Department of Health confirmed 684 more people have died in hospital after testing positive for the virus, bringing the total UK deaths to 3,605.
Royal aides have been speaking to Downing Street for a fortnight about Her Majesty giving a morale-boosting television address to the UK amid the pandemic.
Sources had stressed last week the country was at the start of a very long and difficult process and that the timing of the address ‘needs to be right’.
As well as on television and radio, The Queen’s address this weekend will be shown on the royal social media channels, including @RoyalFamily on Twitter.
The Queen is highly experienced at public speaking and records her Christmas message in just one take, reading her script from a monitor.
But her message during the coronavirus pandemic had the added technical challenge of taking place while the UK is in lockdown.
The Queen has left Buckingham Palace and is staying with the 98-year-old Duke of Edinburgh with a reduced household at Windsor Castle for their safety.
The @RoyalFamily account announced the broadcast on Twitter shortly after 2pm today
A royal spokesman said: ‘Her Majesty The Queen has recorded a special broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.
‘The televised address will be broadcast at 8pm on Sunday April 5, 2020. The address was recorded at Windsor Castle.’
It will be only the fourth special address of her 68-year reign. Her Majesty gave her last speech in 2002 on the eve of her mother’s funeral.
Her previous special addresses to the nation were in 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and 1991, when she spoke about the First Gulf War.
Eighteen years ago on the eve of her mother’s funeral, the Queen thanked the country for their support and the ‘love and honour’ shown to the Queen Mother.
Dressed in black, the Queen added: ‘I count myself fortunate that my mother was blessed with a long and happy life. She had an infectious zest for living, and this remained with her until the very end.’
The monarch spoke to the nation in 1997 on the eve of the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales.
Diana’s sudden death in a Paris car crash triggered one of the monarchy’s worst crises in modern history.
When the Queen initially remained at Balmoral to comfort her grandsons Princes William and Harry, the newspaper headlines screamed: ‘Show us you care’ and ‘Where is our Queen? and ‘Where is her flag?’.
The Queen gave a televised address to the nation when she celebrated her diamond jubilee
A sea of flowers was left at the gates of Diana’s London home, Kensington Palace, by shocked members of the public, but the flag pole at Buckingham Palace remained bare, as was the protocol, because the Queen was away in Scotland.
A rare palace statement was released telling of the royal family’s hurt at suggestions they were untouched by the tragedy.
The Queen had been due to pre-record her message, but in an unprecedented move for a royal broadcast of this kind, it was decided she should deliver it live.
Royal author Robert Lacey wrote of how it was a high-risk strategy, but an aide told him: ‘It was a psychological thing.
‘(The Queen) goes flat when she know’s it being recorded. When she knows it’s real, she rises to the challenge.’
Speaking from Buckingham Palace and against a backdrop of a view of the crowds of mourners outside, Her Royal Highness, dressed in black, said she was speaking from her heart as both the nation’s Queen and as a grandmother.
She paid tribute to Diana as ‘an exceptional and gifted human being’, adding: ‘In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness.’
In February 1991, the Queen recorded a brief televised address to the nation during the Gulf War.
It came as the allied land offensive began against Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait.
The Queen called on people to unite and pray that the Armed Forces’ success would be as ‘swift as it is certain’, and that it would be ‘achieved with as small a cost in human life and suffering as possible’.
She expressed her hopes for a ‘just and lasting peace’.
The monarch also made a televised address when she thanked the nation for the festivities commemorating her Diamond Jubilee, describing it as ‘a humbling experience’.
As the special bank holiday came to a close in June 2012, the monarch said in the two-minute pre-recorded televised message she was deeply touched.
She added: ‘I hope that memories of all this year’s happy events will brighten our lives for many years to come.’
Prince Charles, 71, opens the NHS Nightingale Hospital in East London via video-link from his Scottish home at Birkhall today
In 1983, Whitehall officials drew up a script for the Queen to read during the Cold War if Britain faced annihilation at the hands of a nuclear-armed Soviet Union.
Records released under the 30-year-old rule showed the monarch, in the event of a Third World War, would have urged her ‘brave country’ to stand firm as it faced up to the ‘madness of war’, but the speech was never recorded.
Over the weekend it emerged that one of the Queen’s footmen had tested positive for coronavirus, sparking further fears for the monarch’s health.
But Buckingham Palace said earlier this week that the monarch was in good health and that every precaution was being taken.
It is understood the staff member’s duties included walking the Queen’s dogs, corgi-dachshund crosses Candy and Vulcan, and bringing her food – both of which would have brought the pair into close proximity. It is not known, however, when they fell sick.
Prince Charles, who last saw his mother on March 12, tested positive but has since recovered. Doctors say the earliest he could have become contagious was the next day.
He came out of self-isolation on Monday in Scotland, while his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, who tested negative for the virus, will come out by the end of the weekend.
The Prince of Wales offered his own message of hope to the country earlier this week when he recorded a video after coming out of isolation.
Charles said in his words of support: ‘As a nation, we are faced by a profoundly challenging situation, which we are only too aware threatens the livelihoods, businesses and welfare of millions of our fellow citizens.
‘None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us all try and live with hope and, with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come.’
The footman was promoted to a role closer to the Queen six months ago and worked in her private apartments at Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday, the Queen thanked Armed Forces personnel working tirelessly to build London’s new NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel convention centre.
The monarchy’s Twitter account paid tribute to the military who have been on 15-hour shifts to transform the site into a 4,000-bed hospital for coronavirus patients.