BBC America will air Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s address to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Countries at 3pm ET, Noon PT.
The BBC’s network in the United States has confirmed that it will air the address at the same time as it is broadcast for the first time in the UK.
Announcing the address, Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “Her Majesty The Queen has recorded a special broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus outbreak. The televised address will be broadcast at 8pm (BST) on Sunday 5th April, 2020. The address was recorded at Windsor Castle.”
A national address by a sitting monarch is a rarity, with Queen Elizabeth II having only addressed the nation four times before.
The Queen addressed the nation at the beginning of the land war in Iraq in 1991; after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1996; the death of the Queen’s mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002; and a brief message of thanks after the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
This being Her Majesty’s fifth address to the nation outside of her annual Christmas broadcast, makes it especially poignant, and is expected to attract record viewing figures around the world.