The Queen has a speech handy in case WWIII breaks out. Here's what it says.

North Korea hurled another ballistic missile in the general direction of Japan this week, one that went farther (3,700km) and higher (770km) than any before. So while Pacific powers strategise and hypothesise about how to handle the threat, we can’t help but wonder if Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is currently in the bowels of Buckingham Palace digging through a dusty file box.

Because should World War III erupt, she’s already got the speech.

Released to the public in 2013 in keeping with the National Archives’s 30-year rule, the transcript is that of a hypothetical televised address in which the monarch prepares her subjects for global nuclear conflict.

It was drafted in 1983, in the shadows of a particularly tense period of the Cold War, as part of a secret war gaming exercise designed to help Britain prepare for potential international developments.

In the rousing address, quoted by the BBC, Her Majesty concedes that her “brave country” must once against steel itself for survival amid the “madness of war”.

“I have never forgotten the sorrow and the pride I felt as my sister and I huddled around the nursery wireless set listening to my father’s inspiring words on that fateful day in 1939 [the start of the World War II].

“Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me.

“But whatever terrors lie in wait for us all, the qualities that have helped to keep our freedom intact twice already during this sad century will once more be our strength.”

Shit just got very real between the US and North Korea. But should we be worried? (Post continues below.)

Of course, Her Majesty will have to make a few amendments to bring the speech bang up to date. There’s a reference to her son, Prince Andrew, being “at this moment in action” with the British Navy that’ll have to be scrapped.

Although, one thing that will make the revisions easier – there’s no explicit mention of the then-enemy Russia. So no ‘find + replace all’, necessary.

Besides, the overall sentiment still holds true.

“If families remain united and resolute, giving shelter to those living alone and unprotected, our country’s will to survive cannot be broken.

“As we strive together to fight off the new evil, let us pray for our country and men of goodwill wherever they may be. God Bless you all.”

Want to know more about the North Korea situation? Right this way…

• North Korea has fired a missile over Japan.
• Calm answers to the questions you’re too scared to ask about Trump and North Korea.
• Julie Bishop responds to North Korea’s threat of nuclear strike on Australia. 

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