Queen to give rare UK emergency address from Windsor Castle

The Queen is to address the nation tomorrow to deliver a message about the coronavirus outbreak, Buckingham Palace has said.

Expectation has been growing about when the head of state would make a public statement about the unprecedented events that have seen the country go into lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “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 5 April 2020.

“The address was recorded at Windsor Castle.”

In the message the Queen is likely to praise the efforts of health workers and all those who have been helping in the fight against Covid-19 and offer reassurance to the nation during this unsettling period.

The televised address will be a rare event, with the head of state only making three previous appearances during troubled times.

Speeches were broadcast after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, ahead of Diana, Princess of Wales’s funeral in 1997 and about the First Gulf War in 1991.

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 following a positive test for Covid-19.

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.”

The Queen has been staying at her Berkshire home of Windsor Castle after moving to the royal premises on 19 March.