On Sunday, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a rare broadcast message, assuring the United Kingdom that “if we remain united and resolute, we will overcome” the virus.

The queen addressed the country for only the sixth time outside of her normal yearly Christmas Day speech, to a nation under lockdown. Her four previous spectacular speeches have been to commemorate the Gulf War, the loss of Princess Diana of Wales, the loss of her mother, and her Diamond Jubilee.

“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.”

Last month, the queen delivered a written statement in which she stated that the royal family will take a role in responding to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We know that many individuals and families across the United Kingdom, and around the world, are entering a period of great concern and uncertainty,” she said at the time.

“We are all being advised to change our normal routines and regular patterns of life for the greater good of the communities we live in and, in particular, to protect the most vulnerable within them.”

She added, “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.”

Prior to thanking the nation and its residents for adhering to the necessary health and safety rules, the Queen and the Palace safeguarded the royal’s safety by using a single cameraman.

Elizabeth commended those who stayed at home, thus saving others from the anguish that some families were already experiencing.

She also praised health-care workers for their selflessness and praised the “heart-warming” stories of individuals across the Commonwealth, of which she is the head, and beyond who delivered food and medications to those in need.

The address came at the conclusion of a weekend in which many people throughout the country defied official instructions to stay at home given the sunny weather.

Hundreds of people gathered in parks and squares around London and other major cities to enjoy the weather.

According to People, the queen also opted to record the message in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle because it is “big enough to allow sufficient distance between the monarch and the camera operator.”

During the speech, the Queen pondered on the parallels and contrasts between the coronavirus epidemic and World War II.

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” she remarked. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”