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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