Queen promises 'Better days will come' in a rare message amid COVID-19 crisis

Amid the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, Queen Elizabeth II, in a rare televised address on Sunday, called on United Kingdom to rise to confront the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic and sought to rally people in an increasingly challenging time by offering words of reassurance to lift their spirits.

"I am 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," the 93-year-old monarch said in her address from Windsor Castle.

"While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, 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," she said in her four-minute-long speech.

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She thanked the NHS frontline health care workers who have been battling the crisis head-on. She said, "I am 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,"

The Queen further added that the pride that Britons carry should not be faded by a crisis of such sorts and that the Britons of this generation will be considered "strong as any". She said, "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."

She further said that a crisis like this has brought people closer as many have extended a helping hand towards each other across the commonwealth and the world. She mentioned that "across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbours, or converting businesses to help the relief effort."

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She added, "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." The Queen also thanked people who were staying at home and avoiding further grief to the nation and people. She further said, "I also those of you who are staying at home and by doing so, helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones".

She concluded her message by saying that the world and the UK will succeed in this crisis. She said, "This time, we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, 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."

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Rare message by the Queen

This was an extremely rare and special message from the Queen who only speaks to the nation during her annual televised message on Christmas Day. Queen Elizabeth said that Sunday's address reminded her of her first-ever broadcast in 1940 when she helped by her late sister Margaret spoke from Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes.

Her first special message to the country was on February 24, 1991, during the first Gulf-war. The second message was a live broadcast on the eve of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in September 1997. It was followed by a special address on the eve of the funeral of her mother in April 2002 and her latest special message was to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee as the Royal Head in June 2012.

As of Sunday, UK has reported 4, 943 deaths and 47,806 people had tested positive for the virus. On Sunday there had been 621 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past day as per the Johns Hopkins University data.

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(With ANI inputs)