The Royal Family Say Thank You On International Nurses Day

There has never been a more appropriate or fitting time to thank nurses for their dedication, professionalism, and courage. All over the world nurses are fighting on the frontlines of this pandemic at great personal risk, often going long periods without seeing their loved ones to protect and care for those battling this virus. For International Nurses Day, the royal family came together to say thank you. 

From Her Majesty The Queen discussing "the very important part" nurses play, to Charles "joining the chorus of thank yous" to Camilla aptly describing how "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary people", we heard a selection of warm and supportive messages. William, Kate, Sophie, Anne and Alexandra followed by saying thank you. 

There was a rare virtual joint engagement yesterday as the Court Circular recorded the Duchess, patron of the Nursing Now campaign and Evelina London Children's Hospital, and the Countess of Wessex, Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, joined forces for a series of video conference calls around the UK and Commonwealth. They spoke to nurses from several countries including Australia, the Bahamas, India and Malawi.

The Telegraph reports:

'In it, the Duchess of Cambridge and Countess of Wessex work together to speak to nurses in seven Commonwealth countries, showing a firm friendship as they joked about homeschooling amid their serious questions about Covid-19. The broadcast saw members of the family working from home in Scotland, Norfolk and Windsor to coordinate a celebration of nurses and midwives. 

It opened with audio of the Queen, speaking to Professor Kathleen McCourt, the president of the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, of which Her Majesty is patron. "This is rather an important day,” said the Queen. “They [nurses] have obviously had a very important part to play recently."

In one session, speaking to nurses in London, the Duchess of Cambridge said: “I don’t know how you manage to do this and keep the show on the road despite the extra pressures you’re all under and the challenging conditions. “It’s just shown how vital the role that nurses play across the world. You should be so proud of the work that you do.”

Kate praised nurses for "keeping the show on the road" telling them "It’s amazing that you're able to still continue the support and the care that you would normally provide even under these really difficult circumstances." Speaking to nurses in Queensland, Australia Sophie said "I hope you’re feeling some of the love as well". Kate added: "You’re a huge inspiration to everybody. Thank you from everyone here. And happy nurses’ day."

People reports:

'Meanwhile, in Cyprus, where Kate visited servicemen and women before Christmas in 2018 with husband Prince William, the pair spoke with nurses from the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps. Sophie, 55, is Colonel-in-Chief of that regiment.

“Is everyone worried about their families and their loved ones back home? It must be adding to the pressure," Kate asked the military nurses in Cyprus.

When they asked how families were doing amid the lockdown, one of the nurses told them that a family member is a teacher, so she's "quite busy." “Be careful, she’s about to be recruited,” Sophie, who like Kate is helping homeschooling her kids, joked. Kate then replied with a laugh, “I’d like her to come and help me out!"

In a letter of support to Nursing Now, the Duchess praised the "crucial" and often "unsung" role nurses play.

William told nurses at the Royal Marsden "Thank God for the Royal Marsden right now. You’re doing a terrific job and I hope you know how appreciated it is."

It was absolutely wonderful to see so many members of the family coming together to mark International Nurses Day. I loved how the Queen (like so many grandparents) decided a phone call rather than a video call was in order :) The five minute video encompassed so many interesting and uplifting moments and it was great to see Kate and Sophie joining forces. I've been saying for years the royals should team up more as there are a great deal of shared causes across the board. We last saw a joint engagement for Kate and Sophie at the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange when Kate was expecting Louis.

The Duchess wore her blue polka dot Altuzarra Aimee dress. Kate first wore it for a 'Back to School' engagement in support of the Heads Together campaign in 2016. The choice of blue is a thoughtful nod to the colour of the Nursing Now campaign.

The $2,150 stretch-woven dress features a V neckline, half sleeves, light ruching at front and inner arms, a slit, a slim silhouette and straight hem.

The Duchess accessorised with the Patrick Mavros Ocean Tides Milky Quartz earrings in silver. Kate's worn them for several Zoom video call over the past month. This was an outstanding ID given the limitations of video quality images, a huge thank you to the fabulous Susan from What Kate Wore for her work on this.

We have a number of nurses reading the blog, I expect most of us have a friend or a relative in the profession. I speak for all of us, when I say a heartfelt thank you for everything you are doing. You are all heroes.