Almost 24 million people sat down to watch the Queen address the nation on coronavoris Covid-19, telling people across the country "we will meet again"
Her moving words have been widely praised, with many saying it was exactly what we needed as things become increasingly difficult for everyone.
It was just the fifth time in her 68-year reign that she has addressed the nation in this way, and a huge amount of planning went into the historical speech.
It was filmed at Windsor Castle, where the Queen has been self-isolating with her husband Prince Philip, and a mammoth undertaking was needed to facilitate the unprecedented statement.
Before the recording the Queen sought her personal doctors' advice, which was strictly followed to mitigate any risk to the monarch or others at the castle.
Sources with knowledge of the recording suggested the logistics and planning had been made “particularly difficult” due to the nationwide lockdown and fears over the risks to the Queen’s health after she entered isolation on government advice.
The video message was recorded by a lone cameraman, who was dressed from head to toe in the same personal protective equipment worn by doctors and nurses treating infected patients.
The White Drawing Room was specifically chosen as it allowed appropriate distance between those involved at all times.
The Queen wrote the speech with the help of her private secretary Sir Edward Young, who is one of her most trusted aides.
A source said: "Her Majesty wanted to make particular reference to her very first broadcast in 1940, when she was just a young girl who had been evacuated from Buckingham Palace as Nazi bombs rained down on London.
"The Queen must have felt it quite pertinant that the coronavirus crisis, which has kept so many away from their family and friends, had drawn parallels with her own experience of living through the war as an evacuee."
She worked closely with Number 10 on her speech, and care was taken to ensure the timing of her important message was right.
A royal source said: “Throughout the process senior royal aides liaised with Number 10 who were delighted the Queen had struck the perfect tone in her address.”
Clips of some of the things the Queen was speaking about were shown during the message, including shots of people clapping for the NHS from their homes in Shirley, West Midlands and Belfast.
There was also video of a Waitrose supermarket in Nine Elms, Battersea, which was filmed on Thursday, and clips from a port were shot in Felixstowe.
