In Emotional Address, Queen Elizabeth Offers Words of Hope to Britain

LONDON — With the number of coronavirus deaths in Britain approaching 5,000 and people confined to their homes under ever-stricter lockdown measures, Queen Elizabeth II made an extraordinary — and very personal — address to the British public on Sunday night, urging people to exercise their self-discipline and resolve, and telling them “better days will return.” No one else here could have delivered such a powerful message: The Queen, who turns 94 later this month, drew on Britain’s 20th-century history — and her own past — in an effort to comfort the public and rouse them to action in fighting the spread of COVID-19. She said Sunday night’s address reminded her of the very first broadcast she made. It was during World War II, when she was a teenager, and she spoke alongside her younger sister, Princess Margaret. “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,” she said. Dressed in an aqua green dress and with her signature

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