"Our finest hour"

There's nothing like a crisis to bring out the best in (some, but not all) leaders.  Last month, on April 5, 2020, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom did something that she doesn't do very often - she gave a televised speech broadcast to the British people. Hers was a message of hope.  She expressed gratitude to the British health care workers and essential workers, and she offered words of encouragement and resolve to everyone else.  The speech was watched by nearly 24 million television viewers and was apparently only the fifth time that she has given a speech on television in her 68-year reign.

Vogue magazine called it "the hopeful message that the world needs right now".  One of my favorite lines in her speech was this one - "The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future."  The line is reminiscent of one voiced by then Prime Minister Winston Churchill during some of the darkest days of World War II, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’ ”

Here is the full transcript:

I’m speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time, 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. I want to thank everyone on the NHS frontline, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all. I’m sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated, and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times. I also want to thank those of you who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable, and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones.

Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it. I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge, and those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any, that the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet, good-humored resolve, and of fellow feeling still characterize this country. The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.

The moments when the United Kingdom has come together to applaud its care and essential workers will be remembered as an expression of our national spirit, and its symbol will be the rainbows drawn by children. Across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heartwarming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbors, or converting businesses to help the relief effort. And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths and of none are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect in prayer or meditation.

It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made in 1940, helped by my sister. We as children spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones, but now as then, we know deep down that it is the right thing to do. While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavor. Using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal, we will succeed, and that success will belong to every one of us. 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. But for now, I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all.

We do have better days ahead of us.  There are still difficult challenges to be faced, but we will face them with resolve and grit.  We will get through this pandemic.  And we will be better for it.  Our generation will be remembered for what we do today.  And many years from now, our grandsons and granddaughters will read about COVID-19 and say that this was our finest hour.