It was the speech that came to define the late Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Addressing the nation from Cape Town on her 21st birthday in 1947, Princess Elizabeth promised the British that “her whole life, whether long or short”, would be dedicated to their service.
Royal writer Valentine Low revealed in her 2022 book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Throne that the future queen was so moved by the moving words that she cried.
Alan Lascelles, private secretary to her father King George VI, replied: “Good, because if it makes you cry now, it will make 200 million other people cry when you hand it over, and that’s what we want.”
Incredibly, a draft of the speech was briefly lost in a Cape Town bar the month before Elizabeth spoke those words.
When it was found, Lascelles wrote to Dermot Morrah, the journalist who wrote the speech, to say: “The missing letter has now been found.” The butler at the Protea restaurant had placed it on the bar, among his bottles, unaware that it was of top quality.
It was the speech that came to define the late Queen’s 70 years on the throne. Speaking to the nation from Cape Town on her 21st birthday in 1947, Princess Elizabeth promised the British that “all her life, whether long or short”, she would be dedicated to their service. Above: Isabel giving her speech.
Elizabeth gave her speech during a six-month tour of South Africa. Above: The Princess reviews an honor guard in the country during the trip
Lascelles went on to praise Morrah for the quality of the speech: “I have been reading drafts for many years, but I cannot recall any that have left me so completely satisfied and left me with the feeling that not a single word should be altered.
‘Moreover, despite my inveterate cynicism, it moved me deeply. It has the trumpet-like sound of the other Elizabeth II’s Tilbury speech, combined with the immortal simplicity of Victoria’s “I will be good.”
Elizabeth spent six months in South Africa with her father, mother, Queen Elizabeth, and sister, Princess Margaret.
The tour came just two years after the end of the Second World War, at a time when the British Empire was being dismantled.
Low reveals how, describing the success of the tour, Lascelles wrote in his diary: ‘The most satisfactory feature of the whole visit is the remarkable development of Princess Elizabeth.
“It has come in the most surprising way and in the right direction.”
He added that she had “a good, healthy sense of humour” but could also “chat about boring old people with much of her mother’s skill”.
Journalist Dermot Morrah wrote Princess Elizabeth’s speech. George VI’s private secretary Alan Lascelles told him: “I have been reading drafts over many years but I cannot recall one which has satisfied me so completely and left me with the feeling that not a word should be altered.”
Princess Elizabeth sits in front of a BBC microphone as she delivers her speech to Britain and the Commonwealth from Government House in Cape Town.
Morrah, who previously wrote speeches for George VI during World War II, also published a book about Elizabeth to mark her birthday.
Elizabeth began her birthday speech, delivered from Government House in Cape Town, by saying: “On my twenty-first birthday, I welcome the opportunity to speak to all the people of the Commonwealth and the British Empire, wherever they live, whatever be your race.” they come from and the language they speak.
Let me start by saying “thank you” to all the thousands of kind people who have sent me messages of goodwill. This is a happy day for me, but it is also a day that brings me serious thoughts, thoughts about the life ahead with all its challenges and with all its opportunities.
“At a time like this, it helps me a lot to know that there are many friends around the world who think of me and wish me well. I am grateful and deeply moved.”
He went on to mention the five-year conflict with Nazi Germany and said: ‘We must not be intimidated by the anxieties and difficulties that the war has left behind for every nation in our community.
We know that these things are the price we gladly agreed to pay for the high honor of defending, alone, seven years ago, the freedom of the world.
Princess Elizabeth (right) with her sister Princess Margaret on the South African Royal Train
Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in South Africa. Behind them is Group Captain Peter Townsend, then equerry to King George VI. He and Margaret became friends during the voyage. Their wish to marry was thwarted.
‘Let us say with Rupert Brooke: “Let us thank God for giving us this hour.”
But it was his prophetic final words that made the speech so historic.
Elizabeth said: ‘I declare before you all that my entire life, whether long or short, will be dedicated to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
‘But I will not have the strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join me, as I now invite you to do: I know your support will be unconditional.
‘God, help me keep my promise, and God bless all who are willing to share it.’
