Elizabeth II At 80: Prince Charles's Televised Tribute (April 2006)
Written by Joanne Leyland
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Event: The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) Pays Tribute To His Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, On The Occasion of Her Majesty's 80th Birthday
Date of Broadcast: 21st April 2006
"An 80th birthday is a very special occasion for every family - an
occasion for celebration, for giving thanks and for looking back. As a child, I can just remember
my great grandmother, Queen Mary, at 80; then I recall so well the 80th
birthday of my grandmother in 1980."
"Now I find it hard to believe my own mother, the Queen,
is today celebrating her 80th birthday, and it gives me enormous pride
to be able to congratulate her publicly in this way, and to thank her
on behalf of us all for the many wonderful qualities which she has
brought to almost an entire lifetime of service and dedication to her
country, to her family, to the realms and to the countries of the
Commonwealth."
"It is hard to believe that my grandfather, King George VI, was the same
age as I am now when he died and that my mother succeeded him when so
young - the same age, in fact, as my sons are now."
"And then I have vivid memories of the Coronation; of my mother coming
to say goodnight to my sister and me while wearing the crown so that
she could get used to its weight on her head before the Coronation
ceremony; of thousands of people gathered in The Mall outside
Buckingham Palace chanting "We want The Queen''
and keeping me awake at night; of my parents being away for long
overseas tours during the 1950s and of determined attempts to speak to
them on the telephone in far-distant lands when all you could hear was
the faintest of voices in a veritable storm of crackling and static
interference."
"I remember so well, too, the excitement of being reunited with our
parents when my sister and I sailed out in the, then, brand new Royal
Yacht Britannia to meet them off Tobruk at the end of their
Commonwealth Coronation Tour in 1954 - a tour that had lasted over six
months and taken in 13 countries. And, of course, there was the thrill
- as a small boy - of witnessing the entire Mediterranean Fleet of the
Royal Navy steam past the Royal Yacht at high speed, with my mother and
father waving to all the ships' companies from the afterdeck."
"There is
no doubt that the world in which my mother grew up and, indeed, the
world in which she first became Queen, has changed beyond all
recognition."
"But during all those years she has shown the most remarkable
steadfastness and fortitude, always remaining a figure of reassuring
calm and dependability - an example to so many of service, duty and
devotion in a world of sometimes bewildering change and disorientation."
"For very
nearly 60 of those 80 years she has been my darling Mama and my
sentiments today are those of a proud and loving son who hopes that you
will join with me in wishing the Queen the happiest of happy birthdays,
together with the fervent prayer that there will be countless memorable
returns of the day."
