There are homes ready to welcome us in every continent of the earth. Before I am much elder, I hope I shall come to know many of them. Although there is none of my father’s subjects, from the eldest to the youngest, whom I do not wish to greet, I am thinking especially today of all the young men and women who were born about the same time as myself and have grown up like me in the terrible and glorious years of the Second World War. Will you, the youth of the British family of nations, let me speak on my birthday as your representative? 

Now that we are coming to manhood and womanhood, it is surely a great joy to us all to think that we shall be able to take some of the burden off the shoulders of our elders, who have fought and worked and suffered to protect our childhood. 

To that generation, I say we must not be daunted by the anxiety and hardships the war has left behind for every nation of our Commonwealth. We know these things are the price we cheerfully undertook to pay for the high honor of standing alone seven years ago in defense of the liberty of the world. 

If we all go forward together with an unwavering faith, a high courage and a quiet heart, we shall be able to make of this ancient Commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing. More free, more prosperous, more happy, and a more powerful influence for good in the world than it has been in the greatest days of our forefathers. 

To accomplish that, we must give nothing less than what my father, King George, the first head of the Commonwealth, calls “the whole of ourselves”. 

There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors. A noble motto. “I serve”. I should like to make that dedication now. It is very simple. I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service, and the service of  our great imperial family to which we all belong. 

God help me make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.