One of greatest services rendered by a monarch
WHEN THE history of this dreadful episode in our nation’s story is finally written, it may well be that a four-minute broadcast on a spring Sunday evening proved to be a pivotal moment.
Because that was when the real call to arms to beat coronavirus came – not from any politician potentially distrusted by those watching, but from the Queen, above reproach and with all the gravitas of her 68 years as sovereign.
If anyone still doubted the need for a national effort to beat this awful disease that is taking lives and wrecking livelihoods, that must surely have been dispelled at 8pm on Sunday.
All the idiots who have headed for beaches and beauty spots in defiance of Government urgings to stay at home, keep a distance from others and only go out when absolutely necessary could not have ignored the clear message from the Queen.
The fact that it was only the fifth time since 1952 that she has addressed the nation was testament enough to the gravity of the plight in which we find ourselves.
But so was her message that as a country we must display resolve and selfdiscipline, as did her own generation, the one that came through the Second World War.
The wartime analogies that she deployed were apt, especially the message of hope with which she concluded, that in the words of the great anthem of hope from those darkest of hours, we will meet again.
The lockdown of normal daily life millions took for granted until only weeks ago only add to the sense of a country facing a dire emergency, as did the Prime Minister’s hospitalisation, news of which broke shortly after the Queen’s broadcast.
In such circumstances, the Queen’s extraordinary ability to speak for the nation was exactly what was required. Her words were the distillation of what every sane and sensible person in Britain knows in their heart of hearts – that only by pulling together and working as one will we get through this pandemic with the least possible loss of life and damage to the economy.
No politician, however senior, sincere, or backed up by the best medical or scientific advice, can motivate the nation to that effort with anything like the authority the Queen commands.
That is why her broadcast will prove so important in bringing this virus under control. As arguments continue about the Government’s actions over testing, or protective equipment for NHS and social care staff, the Queen’s words were a call to arms as well as a reassurance.
They were also a reminder of how much our country owes the Royal Family, and how, through changing times, it remains essential to our unity and sense of identity as a nation.
Equally importantly, the stability and continuity that the Queen embodies sends the message that Britain will get through this, as it has got through every other crisis during her long reign.
The closeness of the monarchy’s bond with the people had been underlined only days before, when Prince Charles contracted coronavirus himself, which must have been an immense worry to his whole family, just as it is for tens of thousands of other families.
And then for him to open, via videolink, the new Nightingale Hospital in London even though he was obviously still unwell, was a demonstration of the resolve of which his mother spoke.
There can be no doubt that as soon as he is well enough, and pressure has eased sufficiently on the staff of the hospital, Prince Charles will visit in person.
When he does, after knowing what being ill with coronavirus is like, it will carry an echo of his grandmother, the Queen Mother, who after Buckingham Palace was bombed, said that she finally felt able to look the people of the east end of London, whose homes had been destroyed, in the eye.
There are bound to be those who believe the symbolism of such a visit, or the words of a 93-year-old monarch, don’t matter much.
They’re mistaken. These things matter immensely. When the Queen, or Charles, or William and Kate, visit a hospital to thank the staff, and shake their hands when that is once again safe, they do so on behalf of everyone who steps out of their homes on a Thursday evening to applaud the NHS.
That really matters. And so did the reassuring presence of the Queen in our living rooms.
Before she spoke, a lot of people must have felt helpless and scared in the face of this invisible, but potentially lethal, enemy.
Afterwards, they knew if they knuckled down and did their bit, they were helping to win the fight against it.
And when the history of all this is finally written, it may well also record that those wise, heartfelt words delivered on a Sunday evening were one of the greatest services ever rendered to the nation by its longest-serving monarch.
If anyone still doubted the need for a national effort to beat this awful disease that is taking lives and wrecking livelihoods, that must surely have been dispelled at 8pm on Sunday.