Children's Hour: Princess Elizabeth

The 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth sends her best wishes to the children who have been evacuated from Britain to America, Canada and elsewhere. Princess Margaret joins her to wish all children goodnight. This is the earliest recording of the future Queen in the BBC archives.

The picture above shows HRH Princess Elizabeth, and other members of the Royal Family, visiting the BBC studios at Broadcasting House in 1939.

Evacuation of children in Britain from the cities to the countryside started in September 1939. In 1940, the British government began evacuating children to dominion countries such as Canada, but only about 13,000 were evacuated abroad altogether due to the increasing threat of ships being torpedoed.