Queen offers a message for friends in ‘testing times’
THE Queen has stressed the importance of staying in touch with family and friends during “testing times” in a message broadcast on television just hours ahead of the Sussexes’ Oprah interview.
Focusing on the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the monarch spoke of using technology that “transcends boundaries or division” and how there has been a “deeper appreciation” of the need to connect to others during the Covid-19 crisis.
She also praised the “selfless dedication to duty” seen across the Commonwealth, particularly on the front line. Senior royals including the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined forces to appear in the special BBC One programme on Sunday to mark Commonwealth Day, as the bitter fallout from Megxit continued.
The Queen’s audio message celebrated collaboration, but stood in contrast to the troubles facing the royal family.
As Harry and Meghan were due to be seen focusing on their own experiences of life inside the monarchy, the Queen, who is Head of the Commonwealth, used her Commonwealth Day message to highlight the “friendship, spirit of unity and achievements” around the world and the benefits of working together in the fight against the virus.
“The testing times experienced by so many have led to a deeper appreciation of the mutual support and spiritual sustenance we enjoy by being connected to others,” she said.
Buckingham Palace is bracing itself for what Harry and Meghan will say in their controversial twohour conversation with Oprah Winfrey - which airs on Sunday in the US, while the Duke of Edinburgh remains unwell in hospital.
As footage was played of the Queen’s numerous official video calls, the 94-year-old acknowledged the innovative technology “has been new to some of us, with conversations and communal gatherings, including Commonwealth meetings, conducted online, enabling people to stay in touch with friends, family, colleagues, and counterparts who they have not been able to meet in person.
She said: “Increasingly, we have found ourselves able to enjoy such communication as it offers an immediacy that transcends boundaries or division, helping any sense of distance to disappear.
“We have all continued to appreciate the support, breadth of experiences and knowledge that working together brings.”
THE Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen said it has launched a new air campaign on the country’s capital and other provinces, in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“The targeting of civilians and civilian facilities is a red line,” said Colonel Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the coalition.
He was referring to missile and drone strikes on Saudi cities in recent weeks that the Iranian-backed rebels, known as Houthis, had claimed.
Residents in Sanaa, Yemen’s rebelheld capital, reported hearing huge explosions as a round of bombs fell on the city on Sunday. The Houthirun al-Masirah satellite TV channel reported at least seven air strikes on the Yemeni capital.
The coalition said the Houthis were encouraged by a decision of President Joe Biden’s administration last month to remove them form the US’s terror list. The designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation was announced in the waning days of former president Donald Trump’s administration, and caused widespread outcry from humanitarian groups working in Yemen.
While the Houthi attacks rarely cause damage or casualties, strikes on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, have shaken energy markets and the world economy. The coalition also said it intercepted and destroyed at least 12 explosives-laden drones and two ballistic missiles the rebels fired on Sunday at Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, the Houthis said they launched a drone attack on an oil facility in the port city of Jiddah. Another ballistic missile attack last week reached as far as the capital Riyadh, where it was intercepted and exploded in the sky, scattering shrapnel over the city.
Yehia Sarie, a Houthi military spokesman, meanwhile, claimed that their air defences on Sunday downed a Turkish-made drone launched by Saudi Arabia’s air force over the northern province of Jawf.