Queen Elizabeth to address coronavirus pandemic in televised broadcast

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Queen Elizabeth II is set to address the devastating coronavirus pandemic in a televised broadcast this Sunday, Buckingham Palace confirmed to Fox News.

"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 8 p.m. on Sunday 5th April," the palace said in a statement on Friday. 

Sunday's broadcast will serve as the first time the queen has addressed the coronavirus on camera. 

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves after attending the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The televised address is unique in that the queen has only conducted a handful of on-camera broadcasts outside her annual televised Christmas addresses throughout her 68-year reign. The queen has appeared on camera to address the death of Princess Diana, which came five days following the Aug. 31, 1997 tragedy, as well as in 1991 during the Gulf War and in 2002, after the Queen Mother died. 

The on-air coronavirus message will follow a number of statements provided by the royal family about the importance of self-isolating as the pandemic continues to claim the lives of thousands across the globe

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Last month, the novel coronavirus hit close to home for the British royal family after the queen's eldest son, Prince Charles, 71, tested positive for COVID-19.

The Prince of Wales has since recovered after displaying "mild" symptoms, his office, the Clarence House, confirmed to Fox News last week.

Prince Harry and Prince William's father also shared his own video message on Instagram highlighting the importance of social distancing and assuring the public that he is on the mend.

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"Having recently gone through the process of contracting this coronavirus, luckily with relatively mild symptoms, I now find myself on the other side of the illness but still in no less a state of social distance and general isolation," he said. 

"As we are all learning, this is a strange, frustrating and often distressing experience when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible and the normal structures of life are suddenly removed," Charles continued. "At such an unprecedented and anxious time in all our lives, my wife [Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall] and I are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their loved ones in such very difficult and abnormal circumstances, and of those having to endure sickness, isolation and loneliness.

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"As a nation, we are faced by a profoundly challenging situation, which we are only too aware threatens the livelihoods, businesses and welfare of millions of our fellow citizens," the Prince of Wales concluded. "None of us can say when this will end, but end it will. Until it does, let us try and live with hope and with faith in ourselves in each other. Look forward to better times to come."