TORONTO -- On VE-Day in 1945, Princess Elizabeth was given permission by her father to celebrate in the streets of London, following a balcony appearance with her parents. In a rare interview with a BBC war correspondent, she reminisced ″I remember the thrill and relief, I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life.”
On the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, the Queen will mark the occasion with a recorded statement to be delivered at the very same time as her father spoke in 1945.
Earlier in the day, the Prince of Wales will lead the nation in a moment of silence and later read from his grandfather’s diary from VE-Day, reliving the great anxiety King George VI felt about public speaking.
Honouring the wartime generation and their great achievements has been a covenant faithfully observed by The Queen over the years. But the commemorations take on a different meaning this year. While we reflect on the huge challenges and tragedies experienced in the darkest hour of the last century by the oldest amongst us, we are also are inspired by their continued resilience. That this generation should be equally or more at risk now seems particularly cruel.
The Second World War was a formative experience for The Queen. She experienced it as a teenager while growing into her public role - watching and learning from her parents. George VI and Queen Elizabeth led and inspired the nation throughout the conflict. By war’s end, while heir to the Throne, Princess Elizabeth had joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service as a truck driver and mechanic to do her bit. Now she is the last remaining head of state who served during the war.
Those six war years were ones of great anxiety and danger for many. The Royal Family was no exception, living through air raids as well as the deaths of family members, friends, and members of their households. In this, they shared sadness and worry with many, just as they are required to live with social distance today.
Cloistered and protected behind castle walls at Windsor as she is now, it is the same place that the King, Queen, and their daughters safely lived throughout the war. The parallels and memories of these times must loom large for the Queen and Prince Philip. For the Queen and her family, this will have been a very unusually long period being to be in one place while not having public engagements to fulfill, unprecedented in their lives.
The Royal Family continues to seek innovative and contemporary ways of reaching out and connecting virtually with their patronages and other groups. Prince Charles and Princess Anne in particular, often have very heavy schedules that are now taken up with video conferences and interactive media, previously unknown to royal engagements. Royal watchers know that many royal appearances do not often include speeches at all, and so it has been remarkable to hear their voices so often and from the privacy of their homes.
Friday night marks the third time on which the Queen has made a public recorded statement during the past two months. It is an indication of the gravity of the time we are living through but is now the safest way the Sovereign can reach out and connect, precedent setting though it may be.
But just as during the momentous Second World War, the Queen and her family are rising to the occasion, adapting to perform their roles as the times require. These gestures, beyond partisanship and political considerations, provide a needed boost to morale in troubling times. And for many they demonstrate the value of a long reign and the point of having a Royal Family.
