The Queen’s Speech: Queen Elizabeth II Channels Her Heroic Father in Address to the Nation and World

"While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavor. Using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal, we will succeed, and that success will belong to every one of us."
-Queen Elizabeth II

Blog by Jane Fraser
April 14, 2020

In what media have reported as “…a rare speech designed to reassure a nation struggling under the weight of a pandemic,” Queen Elizabeth II, on April 5, 2020, assured the nation and the world that “Better days will return,” echoing the beloved World War II-era song We’ll Meet Again that offered hope to many on the front lines. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”

Queen Elizabeth II, the 93-year-old monarch acknowledged the suffering that many families have experienced because of the pandemic and drew upon wisdom from her decades as Britain’s head of state to urge resolve in a time of crisis. According to historians, the Queen gives yearly Christmas messages but has given an address like this on only three previous occasions. She delivered speeches after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, before the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, and at the time of the first Gulf War in 1991.

But the stuttering community will notice distinct parallels between the Queen’s recent address and those of her late father, King George VI, a person who stuttered and the subject of the award-winning movie The King’s Speech.

Originally broadcast September 3, 1939, as war was declared, King George VI directly addressed his people both at home and overseas.

“In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, for the second time in the lives of most of us we are at war. ... There may be dark days ahead and war is no longer confined to the battlefield.”

He called for all the citizens of Britain and the Commonwealth to stand firm.

According to The Guardian, when war broke out in 1939, Bertie became a symbol of national resistance--a reminder of what Britain was fighting for. After Buckingham Palace was bombed in September 1940, his newsreel appearances were regularly interrupted by applause from the audience.

Queen Elizabeth II understands - as did her father, King George VI - her role in being a calming influence and steady hand in times of crisis, showing true leadership to her country and to the world.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

James Earl Jones

Actor James Earl Jones, a Broadway, television and movie star, is well-known for his voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and his book Voices and Silences. Jones has spoken some of the most memorable lines in the history of American film, but the man known for his voice was once afflicted with a severe stutter.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.