Coronavirus: Can the Queen find the words to bring comfort and unity to the nation?

Coronavirus: Can the Queen find the words to bring comfort and unity to the nation?

The grimness of living in confinement is starting to hit

Hackney's graffiti splashed shutters are down, except at Sainsbury's where a line is forming as each person dutifully stands two metres apart. Among them, Theresa Woolard and her daughter Daisy, faces covered in matching black masks.

It comes to something when shopping is the most dangerous part of your day and the rest is drudgery; living in confinement. For many in London's East End, home is a small apartment in a high-rise estate.

"It is a worry," says Theresa. "I have to look after Daisy and she gets frustrated not seeing her friends, but I'm also caring for my father-in-law and I don't want to pass anything on to him."

Image: Theresa Woolard, pictured with her daughter Daisy, says the situation is worrying

The grimness of lockdown is starting to hit. People are fearful and tense, living on a diet of depressing news and a rising death toll, bracing themselves for what comes next and worried it will come directly to them.

Can the Queen connect with the nation's trauma and find the words to steer us through it?


The East End has always had an affinity with the royals which dates back at least as far as World War Two when the king and queen visited bombed areas to see damage caused by enemy raids.

London was a scene of devastation, with large areas derelict and depopulated. When Buckingham Palace was hit during the height of the blitz, Queen Elizabeth the future Queen Mother observed that "it makes me feel I can look the East End in the face".

Are people ignoring social distancing advice?

Most of the shoppers outside Sainsbury's in Hackney said they will be watching the Queen's address, and some said they thought it would be a help to them personally.

But down the road in the only other shop that remains open, Greg Boyce said he won't be switching on. "I just want facts. I want clarity. I'll stick to watching the daily briefings."

Greg runs a coffee and sandwich shop which he had turned into a small groceries shop and he's noted that community spirit is flourishing.

"Because I'm not isolating, I'm seeing people and maybe I'm a lot of people's only contact. So, everyone seems really happy to see me and there's a great community spirit here. But, naturally, people are also feeling isolated."

Youth and social workers say family tensions are simmering behind closed doors, and little things spark frustration outdoors.

Why, people ask, when most other London parks are open - did the local council shut Victoria Park forcing exercise away from open spaces?

Others are angry that the government appears to be failing to source enough tests, ventilators and personal protection equipment for health workers.

'Please don't go outside this weekend'

Charity worker Nevres Kemal, from the Raising My Voice Foundation, says the charity sector has been abandoned.

Her high street shop in Green Lanes has closed down but she's still out delivering hot meals to vulnerable people.

"The impact on small charities has been absolutely devastating. Local grassroot charities that reach out to the local community and don't get paid, can't get a loan," she says.

"The impact is that people in the community are lost - they can't eat, some don't have clothes."

But Nevres says she would take solace from hearing the Queen speak.

"God bless the Queen. She's been the figurehead of our country for many, many years. She's seen and heard and done so many things. This is what we expect from our Queen."

It is a rare thing for the Queen to address the nation in this way - and comes at an unprecedented national moment.

Whether people have lost a loved one, or risk losing their livelihood or are simply frightened - this is something we are all experiencing together, and for many hearing our Sovereign, whose own son was struck by the virus, feels right.

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The Queen stands above the politics - the failures to get tests, the concern that not enough is being done. She can't be judged by government actions.

She is a symbol of national spirit and resilience who, with the right words, can bring comfort and unity, even to those struggling the most with the way the world is changing.

Be you republican or royalist, it is undeniable that the Queen's personal devotion to duty means even in the dark times, she's always been able to look the nation in the face.