The 90th Anniversary of the YWCA | Speech by HRH Princess Elizabeth

Princess Elizabeth addresses the Young Women's Christian Association on the event of their 90th anniversary. She pays tribute to the support the YWCA gave to women during the recent war and to the high regard in which their 'Blue Cross' emblem is held by the public.

The picture above shows the Royal Family on their way to the VE thanksgiving ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in 1945.

The YWCA was founded in 1855 by Miss Emma Robarts and the Hon Mrs Arthur Kinnaird to assist women coming to London for the first time. A hostel was opened in Upper Charlotte Street for Florence Nightingale's nurses, who were going to and coming back from the Crimea.