Seated in a secure room within Windsor Castle in October 1940, the fourteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth spoke into a BBC microphone, addressing children living far away from home. It was an important broadcast that highlighted an occasion when the royal family came into direct contact with a number of displaced citizens. Though normal state broadcasts usually entailed important politicians and military leaders making wartime statements, this was quite different from the broadcast that was scheduled in the afternoon on the BBC. It was arranged especially for children who had been sent away from home for safety.
The reaction from the public to this particular appearance demonstrated a very pragmatic way of boosting morale in times of a great national emergency. Conducted as part of the popular Children’s Hour radio show, the broadcast gave the young princess an opportunity to talk to her peers without turning the message into a political speech.
