I confess to being a fan of Queen Elizabeth II. But, I am not going to gush about her virtues, accomplishments or perceived missteps in her 70th Jubilee year. Instead, I want to analyze statements from her 21st birthday speech in 1947 and coronation address which was broadcast six years later, in June of 1953.
In both cases, the words and meaning give us great insight into her life’s goals. After seventy years on the throne, it is interesting to look back at these moments to find the through-line that bring us to today. Because she was not the speech writer, it is the appreciation of her delivery that we must look to. As a former theatre director and teacher, I have spent a lot of time working with actors and students in the process of creating intention and meaning, in their work.
In general, the Queen we hear now speaks slowly with a gentle lilt that moves up and down the high tonal range of her voice. Her measured speech has a moderate and rhythmic pace. Every so often that changes. She will pause and then start again, which we know in theatre to be a powerful technique that captures — or recaptures — the audience’s attention by the momentary silence or shift in rhythm.
In these earlier speeches, when femininity was not viewed as an asset, her high-pitched voice emitted lively emotion and youthful energy. This would have made it difficult to shift into subdued official statements and she must have practiced regularly to achieve this. As she reaches the segment of self-dedication, in the 1947 speech, her delivery slows and we feel both the reverence and emotional shift.
This is the sentence:
“I declare before you all with my whole life, whether it is long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong.”
The sincere sentiment was echoed in her coronation radio address where she stated:
“I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”
Each of these two speeches were thoughtfully written to generate confidence in the crown, and to assuage a fraught and tired public after the Second World War and the subsequent loss of King George VI. Princess Elizabeth commits her life to the constitutional monarchy — an action which her uncle was unwilling to do. King Edward VIII was alive and in exile for both speeches and was, most certainly, aware of the subtext found in the lines.
But, by leaning into the words “whole” and “all”, she carefully constructs a precise intention for her life that resonates with us today, plus she highlights her uncle’s departure. These words were chosen over harsher sounding words like entire, complete, or total. In fact, there are very few consonants in this part of the speech at all. How does this assist the speaker and why is this important?
These soft-sounding words are examples of onomatopoeia — words that imitate, in sound, the meaning of it. Whole and all force the speaker to stay on the word in delivery because of the shape that the mouth must take in addition to the amount of breath needed for it to be heard. They are both round and long in their sound and therefore the meaning is imbedded in the time it takes to deliver. As well, the words whole and all are repeated numerous times in the speeches, which emphasizes their importance to the overall feeling of the speech.
When speaking, it is important that repeated words are delivered in a way that conveys new meaning each time. A writer will include repetition for many reasons but in speeches it is usually for emphasis and the speaker must build that into the presentation.
We know that the exact same line can be delivered to create completely different meanings. There is a wonderful video that highlights this on YouTube. The ‘royalty’ of British theatre each arrive on stage and ‘help’ to correct the delivery of the “To be or not to be” line from Hamlet A 1, Sc ii. Each actor stresses a different word and the entire meaning changes, to the delight of the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_zDsAeqrI
In the case of Queen Elizabeth’s speeches, she may have been partially included in the writing process and probably given some direction on diction, to ensure that the core of the message was plainly delivered or that she did not suffer from impediments, as did her father. However, as it is with all good public speakers, there are unmistakable moments that transcend the page and special meaning that is conveyed.
If she had stressed: “my whole life” or “all my life”, the message would ring as pompous or irate and we would sense that she felt burdened by her position or imposition that this responsibility holds.
Alternately, if the emphasized word was: “my whole life” or “all my life”, it lands on the ear with a sense of fear or resentment.
But, by stressing “whole” and “all” a fine balance is achieved. The people of the Imperial family, as she called it, would have her unwavering service plus an understanding that Edward’s abdication was an anomaly.
And now, seventy years later, she rises each day on that same trajectory and, it appears that like her father, she will continue to do so until her last day.
The people of Britain could have changed the constitution and removed the royal family from its place as was done across Europe in the 20th Century. But, I believe that these speeches, from an adept and youthful heir to the throne, cemented the crown’s importance for a century.
