The Queen said that “everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge” posed by the coronavirus pandemic when she made a special address at 8pm on Sunday from Windsor Castle.

“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time,” she said. “A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.”

In her hand-written speech, she expressed her gratitude to those on the NHS frontline, care workers and those carrying out essential roles. She recognised the pain already felt by many families and thanked those who are following the official guidance to stay at home to protect the vulnerable.

She spoke of the need to “focus on the common goal” as she said: “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 that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.”

Her speech, only the fifth time during her 68-year reign that the Queen has felt compelled to make a special address, lasted only four minutes but she made every word count.

The castle’s White Drawing Room was chosen for the recording so that an appropriate distance could be maintained between the Queen and the other occupant -- a lone cameraman dressed from head to toe in surgical personal protective equipment.

Apart from her Christmas message, it is rare for the monarch to make a special address. She did so at the time of the Gulf war in 1991, on the eve of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, on the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, and on the occasion of her diamond jubilee in 2012.

Chartered flights

The Foreign Office has announced it is organising charter flights to evacuate UK nationals from India.

“From next week, the government will start to bring stranded British travellers back from India with flights from Delhi, Goa and Mumbai,” said a statement. “Passengers interested in these flights from India are advised to check the travel advice for India on gov.uk which we will be updating when booking for these flights opens.”