Today I heard a speech by Queen Elizabeth on TV – she was speaking to her nation to remain united and resolute in the face of the current epidemic. What was startling for me about the speech was that she referred to a speech she and her sister gave in 1940 – that was 80 years ago!! I can’t imagine that there is any other world leader, part or present, that can say that. That got me thinking about all the brilliant, funny, and poignant things she may have said over the course of these years, and I decided that I would find some of the ones I liked and make that my Sunday Seven for this week.
- We know, every one of us that in the end all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace. And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world a better and happier place (Radio address to the children of the Commonwealth on Oct 13, 1940).
- It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the hard progress of humankind.
- The upward course of a nation’s history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.
- I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
- Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.
- It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trained.
- True patriotism, doesn’t exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others.
- In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognize how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.
- He has, quite simply, been my strength and my stay all these years, and I and his whole family, and this, and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know. (About her husband Prince Philip).
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