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At just 14-years-old, 80 years ago, the then-Princess Elizabeth gave her first ever radio address during World War II. Alongside her sister Princess Margaret, young Elizabeth was asked to give a speech by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to help raise morale in young people and children.

The Queen gave her first ever address from Windsor Castle on October 13, 1940, where she had been sent away from London like countless other children during the war.

Many of whom she addressed the broadcast to were children her age, who had also been sent away from their homes in the city to live with strangers in the countryside.

She said: “My sister, Margaret Rose and I, feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all.

“To you, living in new surroundings, we send a message of true sympathy.”

She sent a sweet message to those in the commonwealth nations and beyond, saying: “All of us children who are still at home think continually of our friends and relations who have gone overseas – who have travelled thousands of miles to find a wartime home and a kindly welcome in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America.

“My sister and I feel we know quite a lot about these countries. Our father and mother have so often talked to us of their visits to different parts of the world.

“So it is not difficult for us to picture the sort of life you are all leading, and to think of all the new sights you must be seeing, and the adventures you must be having.

“But I am sure that you, too, are often thinking of the Old Country.

“I know you won’t forget us; it is just because we are not forgetting you that I want, on behalf of all the children at home, to send you our love and best wishes – to you and to your kind hosts as well.

“Before I finish I can truthfully say to you all that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage.

“We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war.

“We know, everyone of us, that in the end all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace.

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“And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place.

The Queen even referenced her first ever broadcast in her most recent speech back in April.

She fondly recalled: “It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister.

“We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety.

“Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones.”

“But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.”

The speech prepared her well for life as monarch, which she never expected to become until the sudden abdication of her uncle Edward VIII.

The Queen gives her annual Christmas speech, drawing in millions of viewers in the UK and worldwide every year.

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