The Queen hosted a reception for winners and runners-up of The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition 2024 at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty, who is Vice-Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, met with the young writers at the reception. The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2024 is the world’s oldest writing
competition for schools, having been delivered by the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) since 1883.
Report by Kennedyl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
competition for schools, having been delivered by the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) since 1883.
Report by Kennedyl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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NewsTranscript
00:00How are you?
00:02Hello.
00:04How are you?
00:06Very well, thank you.
00:08Very nice to see you.
00:10Nice to meet you.
00:12Only the second time.
00:14Yeah.
00:16May I take you to Angeline?
00:18She is the senior winner from Asia.
00:20How are you?
00:22Congratulations. Brilliant.
00:24Absolutely brilliant.
00:26Have you done a lot of writing since?
00:28Yeah, through the workshops.
00:30You've got such talent.
00:32It's just your father.
00:34You must be very proud.
00:36Yes, I am.
00:38It's absolutely extraordinary.
00:40Well, I'm looking forward to hearing it again.
00:42Very much.
00:44The junior winner from Malaysia.
00:46And that's her mother.
00:48Her mother.
00:50The two winners from Malaysia.
00:52How long have you been writing?
00:54Since I was four.
00:56Oh, you just kept on going.
00:58Yeah.
01:00Well, it's fantastic.
01:02You must have very good students.
01:04I'm very pleased to help teach you.
01:06Well, it's brilliant.
01:08Good to see you.
01:10Very nice to see you.
01:12Now, I was through Singapore
01:14the other day on my way to Australia.
01:16On the way back.
01:18It's a very nice place to stop.
01:20Very clever girls.
01:22It's lovely to see you.
01:24It's lovely to see you.
01:26Now we have a boy.
01:28This is Victor.
01:30He is from Uganda.
01:32So smart.
01:34This is lovely.
01:36The incredible story is
01:38Victor is only the set-topper for them.
01:40This is just incredible.
01:42How inspiring.
01:44Absolutely brilliant writing, dear.
01:46Well, I thought it was so clever.
01:48I can't believe you're
01:50at the same school.
01:52I think I did on a Zoom.
01:54It was a lockdown, wasn't it?
01:56Exactly.
01:58He was extremely excited.
02:00And he did a BBC programme.
02:02And he inspired you to do it as well.
02:06You must be so proud.
02:08Any of you write?
02:10Any of the parents?
02:12I do, but not as good as him.
02:14It's really impossible.
02:16Well, so many
02:18congratulations to you all.
02:20I can't wait to listen to all your stories.
02:24Can I ask to come up to the stage
02:26Her Majesty the Queen
02:28to speak to us.
02:34Thank you, Giles.
02:36Ladies and gentlemen,
02:38it's a huge pleasure
02:40to welcome you to Buckingham Palace today
02:42to congratulate
02:44and thank all of you
02:46who participated in this year's
02:48Queen's Commonwealth Essay
02:50Competition.
02:52Yet again, we've had a record-breaking
02:54year with 35,000
02:56entries from 54
02:58Commonwealth countries,
03:00including 11 from
03:02Samoa and over 200
03:04from Australia, two places
03:06that my husband and I were
03:08lucky enough to visit last month.
03:12While I was in Sydney, I couldn't
03:14help but think of a young woman
03:16named Pamela, who exactly
03:18100 years ago
03:20left that beautiful city to travel
03:22to London. She did
03:24so when she was only a little older
03:26than Evangeline
03:28Koo, and like each one
03:30of you here, she loved to write.
03:32For a decade,
03:34she wrote poems, stories
03:36and reviews of plays
03:40until from her pen sprang
03:42one of the best-loved characters
03:44in literature and
03:46certainly everybody's favourite
03:48nanny, none
03:50other than Mary Poppins,
03:52who was and is practically
03:54perfect in every way.
03:56I have a copy
03:58of a book from 1934,
04:00the year it was published,
04:02that belonged to my husband's
04:04grandmother, Queen Elizabeth
04:06the Queen Mother, which in a moment
04:08you can all have a look at.
04:11Pamela Travers,
04:13or P. L. Travers,
04:15as it says on the cover of the book,
04:17once said something
04:19very astute about writing
04:21that I remembered when I
04:23read your brilliant entries.
04:25She said,
04:27A writer is, after all, only half
04:29a book. The other half
04:31is the reader.
04:33I think by that she meant that a really
04:35good piece of writing stirs
04:37up the reader, and by some
04:39strange magic makes the reader
04:41part of the story.
04:43This is definitely
04:45true of our wonderful finalists.
04:47Thank you for your
04:49talents. Your readers
04:51have taken on amazing journeys
04:53with you across the Commonwealth,
04:55from Gambia
04:57to Granada, from Bangladesh
04:59to Botswana, from Malta
05:01to Malaysia. You
05:03make us part of your story.
05:05You invite us to share your
05:07concerns and your passions,
05:09and you eloquently express
05:11the power of our Commonwealth.
05:13I'm full
05:15of admiration for you.
05:17You make me feel very proud
05:19to be a member of the Commonwealth,
05:21and you fill me with hope
05:23for its future.
05:25Now, if Mary Poppins is here,
05:27I wonder if she'd be telling me to hurry up
05:29with the brisket spot
05:31so that we can get on with the prize
05:33giving. I will
05:35therefore end by saying there's just
05:37one word to describe
05:39you all, but I might need some help
05:41from Charles to get it right.
05:43You are utterly
05:45supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
05:47Thank you
05:49very much indeed.
06:01Absolutely brilliant.
06:03Well done.
06:09And now you're going
06:11to meet our junior winner.
06:13She is from Malaysia,
06:15Erin Liu.
06:29Congratulations, Erin.
06:31Well done, you. Brilliant.
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