On Sunday evening, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a brave speech amid the COVID-19 pandemic to the people of the UK that left a lasting impression on those that watched. “I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time,” the monarch begun. “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.”
Royal reporter Rebecca English wrote on Twitter: “I defy anyone not to have a lump in their throat as the Queen, echoing Dame Vera Lynn, says: ‘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.” Her sentiments were echoed by many who watched the broadcast, which is only the fourth time the Queen has spoken to the nation in a special televised address in this way:
Watch the speech below:
Here’s how the world reacted: