One happy result of the horrible virus is that it has prompted the Queen to give us not one but two statements of her faith in this country and in God. Together they demonstrate vividly the exquisite, strong but light touch of our almost timeless monarch.
In her four-minute broadcast on the virus on Sunday 5th April, she did more than anyone else could have done to comfort and unite the country in this awful time of Covid.
And then, in her unprecedented Easter statement , she showed (as she does every Christmas) her absolute faith in the teachings of Christ. We have to celebrate Easter apart this year. ‘But Easter isn’t cancelled. Indeed, we need Easter as much as ever’. The resurrection gave Jesus’ followers ‘new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. We know that coronavirus will not overcome us.’
In her television broadcast from Windsor Castle a week before, the Queen had a vast audience of 24 million people – most of them sequestered at home and eager to be reassured by the most benign and apparently permanent personality in the nation’s life.
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