Before I am much older I hope I shall come to know many of them.Īlthough there is none of my father's subjects from the oldest to the youngest whom I do not wish to greet, I am thinking especially today of all the young men and women who were born about the same time as myself and have grown up like me in terrible and glorious years of the second world war. That is the great privilege belonging to our place in the world-wide commonwealth - that there are homes ready to welcome us in every continent of the earth.
Everywhere I have travelled in these lovely lands of South Africa and Rhodesia my parents, my sister and I have been taken to the heart of their people and made to feel that we are just as much at home here as if we had lived among them all our lives. But I am certainly not six thousand miles from home. I am grateful and I am deeply moved.Īs I speak to you today from Cape Town I am six thousand miles from the country where I was born. This is a happy day for me but it is also one that brings serious thoughts, thoughts of life looming ahead with all its challenges and with all its opportunity.Īt such a time it is a great help to know that there are multitudes of friends all round the world who are thinking of me and who wish me well. Let me begin by saying 'thank you' to all the thousands of kind people who have sent me messages of good will. On my twenty-first birthday I welcome the opportunity to speak to all the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire, wherever they live, whatever race they come from, and whatever language they speak.
In a speech broadcast on the radio from Cape Town, the Princess dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth. On her twenty-first birthday, 21 April 1947, Princess Elizabeth was with her parents and younger sister on a tour of South Africa. I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
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