King Charles issues plea to public in emotional tribute to Queen Elizabeth

Today (21 April) marks would’ve been the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 100^th birthday.

Britain’s longest-serving monarch in history died peacefully at her Balmoral home on 8 September 2022. And as her eldest son, King Charles III, pays an emotional tribute to her in a recorded speech, he also issues a bit of a plea to the public.

Without revealing any specific concerns, either in the UK or internationally, the King says much of life today would likely have ‘troubled her deeply’.

But he also renews his ‘own solemn pledge of duty and service' to all of us lot. There is set to be a series of royal events to honour the late Queen throughout today as Charles says we should be celebrating her as a ‘life well-lived’ rather than marking an ‘absence’.

The late Queen would've been 100 today. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

As he issued his plea to the public, the King quoted his late mother from a speech she made in her first ever public broadcast at the age of 14.

“We can each play our part ‘to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place’,” he urged. “It is a belief which I share, with all my heart.”

There’s a number of issues in the ‘times we now live in’ that Charles could be referring to that he ‘suspects may have troubled’ the Queen. From her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being stripped of his titles over his association with Jeffrey Epstein to world economies facing uncertainty following the US and Israel’s war against Iran, it may have indeed been a troubling time for her – it’s a troubling time for much of the world.

But Charles says he takes ‘heart from her belief that goodness will prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon’.

So, the King is wanting us all to: “strive together towards a ‘better, happier tomorrow’ – one rooted in peace, justice, prosperity and security.”

The King says his late mum believed 'goodness will prevail'. (Sang Tan/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The King’s message in full

Filmed in the library at the Balmoral Castle in early April, the King says: “Today, as we mark what would have been my beloved mother's one hundredth birthday, my Family and I pause to reflect on the life and loss of a Sovereign who meant so much to us all and to celebrate anew the many blessings of her memory.

“Queen Elizabeth's 'promise with destiny kept' shaped the world around her and touched the lives of countless people across our nation, the Commonwealth and beyond. Her near-century was one of remarkable change and yet, through each passing decade, through every transformation, she remained constant, steadfast and wholly devoted to the people she served.

Millions will remember her for moments of national significance; many others for a fleeting personal encounter, a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits... or for that marvellous twinkle of the eye when sharing a marmalade sandwich with Paddington Bear in the final months of her life.

“Much about the times we now live in I suspect may have troubled her deeply, but I take heart from her belief that goodness will always prevail and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon.

“For as a young Princess Elizabeth put it in her first ever public broadcast, aged just 14, we can each play our part 'to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place’. It is a belief which I share, with all my heart.

“So young or old, and whatever our differences, let us therefore seek to follow this example as we make today not the marking of a milestone felt by absence but the celebration of a life well-lived, and a legacy of hope, as we strive together towards a 'better, happier tomorrow' - one rooted in peace, justice, prosperity and security. In this, I renew my own solemn pledge of duty and service to you all.

“God bless you, darling Mama; you remain forever in our hearts and prayers.”