King’s speech to inspire Queen

Royal and public bond on VE Day

THE SYMBOLISM will be striking when the Queen addresses the nation at 9pm tonight 75 years after her late father, King George VI, did likewise on VE Day.

A month after her evocative ‘We’ll meet again’ speech in response to Covid-19, planned celebrations to honour all those who fought for our freedom are overshadowed by the pandemic as the UK death toll exceeds 30,000.

The greatest challenge – personal and political – for today’s generation, there is solace, even hope, to be drawn from the King’s speech when he concluded: “Let us turn our thoughts to this day of just triumph and proud sorrow, and then take up our work again, resolved as a people to do nothing unworthy of those who died for us...”

Sentiments that his daughter, our Queen, will echo, such words remain just as relevant today – albeit in different circumstances. The Covid victims will be let down if we do not strive to contain the virus after today’s briefest of pauses. But that challenge, just like 1945, continues to be inspired by the Armed Forces, serving both at home and abroad, and the Royal Family’s extraordinary example.

And this is personified by the Queen who, as Princess Elizabeth, was on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on VE Day when her parents deferred to Winston Churchill as Britain’s wartime leader acknowledged the joy of the cheering crowds.

That seminal occasion, followed by her coronation in 1953, set the tone for a reign which remains unrivalled. And it is why the Queen’s words will bring as much comfort and reassurance as the personal phone calls which her family intend to make to VE Day veterans to express the nation’s thanks for past – and present – sacrifices.

In doing so, they will remind us that the bond between the Royal Family and its people is an unbreakable one – and even more so at times of crisis and personal heartbreak.