The Royal Family is steeped in 1,200 years of history, and many more chapters have been written in the last 50 years – including the end of the longest reign in British history.
Royal commentator Jennie Bond, who has personally witnessed many of the most momentous events, says two of Queen Elizabeth’s speeches most stand out in her mind.
“Everything had gone wrong in 1992, including the fire at Windsor Castle and the separation of three of her four children,” she recalls. “The Royal Family was being lampooned as the most dysfunctional family in the world.
“I was invited to a lunch at the Guildhall in London, where the Queen was to give a speech celebrating her 40th year on the throne.
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The late Queen making her “annus horribilis” speech
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Image:
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
“She suddenly launched into a reflection on the year, which she described as her ‘annus horribilis’. That in itself was an extraordinary statement and quite personal for someone like the Queen.”
Another historic speech came 28 years later, when the monarch addressed the nation during the darkest days of the pandemic, telling them: “We’ll meet again.”
Other top historic royal moments:
Anne competes in the Olympics (July 23 1976)
The Princess Royal made history when she became the first member of the Royal Family to compete when she rode the Queen’s horse, Goodwill, in the in the equestrian three-day event at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, although she didn’t win a medal.
The Queen’s UK tour (February 6, 1977)
Queen Elizabeth marked her Silver Jubilee by visiting 36 UK counties. No other monarch had visited more of the UK in such a short span on time before, and a record one million spectators came out to greet them
Diana’s funeral (September 6, 1997)
The whole world seemed to stop as an estimated 2.5billion people said goodbye to the princess, with thousands crying openly in the streets of London as young William and Harry walked behind her coffin.
The Queen’s Annus Horribilis speech (November 24, 1992)
Queen Elizabeth’s famous speech summed up a year marked by scandal and disaster, including the break-up of three of her children’s marriages and a fire which caused extensive damage to Windsor Castle.
Zara gets first royal Olympic medal (July 31, 2012)
Zara Phillips followed in her mother Princess Anne’s footsteps when she competed at the London 2012 Olympics, when she and the rest of her eventing team won a silver medal.
Megzit (January 8, 2020)
Prince Harry and Meghan stunned the country when their announced their decision to leave their official roles within the Royal Family and become financially independent.
Queen’s We’ll Meet Again address (April 2020)
With the country in lockdown and PM Boris Johnson in hospital with the virus, Queen Elizabeth made a rare, and rousing video address, telling ht nation “We will be with our families again. We will meet again.”
Death of Queen Elizabeth II (September 8, 2022)
The Queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the aged of 97 after a reign of 70 years and 214 days – the longest of any British monarch. She was immediately succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.
The Queue (September 14-19, 2022)
In the days before her funeral, 250,000 people were estimated to have waited to file past the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall, in a queue which stretched for 10 miles with a waiting time of more than 24 hours.
Charles is crowned King (May 6, 2023)
The first coronation of a new British monarch in over 70 years, the pomp and pageantry was watched by over 400 million people worldwide.
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