The 2014 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  In a particularly moving broadcast, the Queen speaks on the subject of reconciliation.  Describing reconciliation as 'the peaceful end to conflict', Her Majesty draws attention to events during the year commemorating the centenary of the First World War.  The Queen explains that she was moved to silence by the ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, which drew huge crowds:  'For every poppy a life; and a reminder of the grief of loved ones left behind.'  The Queen recalls the sacrifice of those who lost their lives and also the famous spontaneous Christmas truce of 1914 between German and British soldiers in No Man's Land.

Elizabeth II speaks of the importance of sport in bringing people together, and how she witnessed the benefits of reconciliation during her visit to Belfast earlier in the year during her visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol, a prison during the Troubles but 'now a place of hope and fresh purpose'.  Reconciliation in Scotland, where a divisive referendum on independence was held during 2014 will, the Queen acknowledges, take time.

The Queen ends by reflecting on the carol Silent Night, and while hailing Jesus Christ as 'a role model of reconciliation and forgiveness' suggests that, in spite of war and discord, the Christmas truce of 1914 reminds us that 'peace and goodwill have lasting power in the hearts of men and women.'

Commentary:  The decade-long practice of releasing a 'taster' of the Christmas Broadcast on Christmas Eve via the media had by 2014 evidently ended.  The wisdom of this practice, which involved the issuing of film clips and publicity photographs of the Queen's speech, had always been questionable.  The intention had been to encourage viewers to watch on Christmas Day by offering a tantalising glimpse of the message, but the risk was that the early release of details might actually have depressed viewing figures because people thought that they already knew what was in it.  This year, all details regarding the Broadcast and the contents of the speech were embargoed until the morning of Christmas Day itself.

Despite the lack of official 'trailers', the 2014 message received a considerable amount of pre-publicity in the press which might not necessarily have been welcomed by the Palace.  In mid-December it was reported that Coral, a leading bookmaker, had suspended betting on Elizabeth II announcing her abdication in her annual address following an unusual amount of betting activity on the subject in the preceding days.  Despite official denials from the Palace, and one royal insider laughing off the suggestion of the end of the Queen's reign being announced in the far-flung corners of the Commonwealth (where, due to time differences, the Broadcast would be shown first), the rumours gained traction and were widely reported in the press and social media until the Broadcast was finally shown.  Needless to say Elizabeth II did not announce her abdication, and is highly unlikely ever to do so.

This was the second of the BBC's back-to-back broadcasts and is a polished production.  Without the 'roaming' camera that was used at the start of the 2013 broadcast there is a more settled feel, and the Queen is filmed in no more than three-quarter length, which looks better and more flattering than the full-length 'seated' Elizabeth II of the previous year.  The lilac and purple colour co-ordination of Her Majesty's dress with the tree decorations adds attractiveness and a quality look.  The production is filmed at the top end of Buckingham Palace's state dining room, looking through to the Blue Drawing Room (the venue of the previous year's Broadcast).  It might seem like an unlikely location for the Christmas Message, but it works.  At the beginning of the programme, God Save the Queen is played by the band of the Royal Marines in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.  The band are seen again at the end playing Silent Night.

As she ages, Elizabeth II's words seem somehow more poignant and her broadcasting style more natural.  This is particularly striking when, as so often in recent years, Her Majesty speaks of her personal Christian faith, and also when she says how touched she has been by those who have gone, at personal risk, to help with the Ebola crisis in Africa.

The 2014 Message was a surprise hit in the UK, topping the Christmas Day ratings according to early data.  It was speculated that the abdication rumours might have helped boost viewing figures, assisted by a general fall in television audiences resulting in reduced viewing figures for other shows.  The success of the Broadcast is particularly notable in that there was no major family news during 2014 on which the Queen had been anticipated to reflect.

Trivia:

The embossed brass box on the table at the Queen's side is from the Sailors & Soldiers Christmas Fund created by Princess Mary, the then seventeen-year-old daughter of King George V and Queen Mary (who are in the framed photographs on the table), to provide gifts from the nation for those serving in the Great War at Christmas, 1914.  The boxes sent out contained gifts according to which group was receiving them.

This was the first time since the 1980s that Elizabeth II had worn a double-strand pearl necklace for her Christmas message rather than her usual three-strand pearls.  This necklace is longer than is typically worn by Her Majesty and the pearls are larger.  The Queen wore this (or at any rate  an almost identical necklace) for several Broadcasts during the 1970s and 1980s.

Elizabeth II caused something of a stir on Twitter when she referenced the popular fantasy drama Game of Thrones in her speech.  The Queen had toured the set of the show during her visit to Belfast the previous June.  It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for the Queen to mention specific television programmes in her Broadcasts.

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The 1994 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:   

Peace and freedom are at the heart of this address.  1994 had seen events to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the D-Day landings, and the Queen recalls her trip to northern France for the commemorations in June, to pay tribute 'to the courage of those who took part in that epic campaign' and recalled her own memories of the anxious wait for news of friends and relatives involved in the dangerous operation of 1944.

Elizabeth II also speaks of her visit to post-Soviet Russia, where in St. Petersburg she and the Duke of Edinburgh had honoured the 'millions of patriotic Russians' who died fighting the enemy and also seen Christianity flourish in the cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin as religious freedoms were restored.

The Queen highlights achievements in Northern Ireland, South Africa and the Middle East which, she says,  show peace is worth striving for.

Her Majesty also looks ahead to the celebrations to mark the end of the Second World War in 1995.

Commentary:   

With Sandringham now becoming familiar as the location of the Christmas message, this Broadcast has a cosy 'at home with the Queen' feel.  The room is attractively lit and the viewer can see the Sandringham gardens through the window behind Her Majesty.

Memorable scenes from the D-Day commemorations are shown in the opening minute of the Broadcast while Her Majesty's words recalling her trip to Russia are illustrated by some fascinating specially-shot footage.  As freedom spread throughout the world in the 1990s, Elizabeth II would in subsequent Broadcasts be able to reflect on her visits to other countries where earlier in her reign she would not have been able to countenance going to, such as South Africa and Poland.

The last couple of minutes of the production comprises a rousing and flourish-filled vocal version of God Save the Queen, with both familiar verses sung, accompanied by archive footage from the Queen's year.  The idea, successfully deployed, appears to be to bring out the meaning of this anthem which is such a familiar tune at ceremonial and sporting occasions.

Notes:   

An amusing anecdote from the 1994 Broadcast was later recalled by producer Philip Gilbert, who remembers one of Her Majesty's corgis sneaking onto the 'set' while recording was in progress and nuzzling against the Queen's leg as she spoke:  'Without anything showing on camera, she put her hand down and held the dog still, while continuing with the final third of her speech as if nothing had happened.'  If one looks closely, the Queen appears to sway gently from side to side at times towards the end of her speech, perhaps as she controls her canine companion.

It has been recalled that the 1994 Broadcast was filmed in the Study at Sandringham.  If true, this is more significant than has been remembered because it is the room from which King George V delivered the very first live Royal Christmas Message in 1932 and from where Elizabeth II gave her own first Christmas Day speech as Queen in 1952.  For twenty-five years this was the 'default' location of the Broadcast, until the arrival of television cameras in 1957 resulted in the larger Long Library being used instead.  The Queen does not mention the room that she is speaking from in her speech, nor does present-day Internet research reveal any apparent contemporary evidence to confirm it; but a close look at footage from the Study of Sandringham House seen in the 2015 BBC documentary Cue the Queen does indeed suggest that this is the same room, making this the one and only time that the Study has been seen in a televised Christmas Broadcast.

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The 1995 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  Speaking at the end of a year which had seen commemorations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day at the end of the Second World War, Elizabeth II highlights the role of peacemakers.  Her Majesty pays tribute to the veterans of that conflict, many of whom had been present at the various events during the year, and also praises those involved in the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland.  The Queen also draws attention to the efforts of 'ordinary' men and women, such as missionary worker Sister Ethel, who she met in South Africa, in 'bringing peace to troubled lands', ending by recalling Christ's words, 'blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God'.

Commentary:  By the time the 1995 message was recorded the decision had already been taken to end the BBC's sixty-three year monopoly of the Christmas broadcast.  The fact that it was filmed in the shadow of the very public feuding between the Prince and Princess of Wales is far from coincidental (they would divorce the following year at the Queen's initiative, as advised in a letter to the couple a few days before the Message was broadcast).  The deciding factor had been the notorious Panorama interview between Princess Diana and the BBC's Martin Bashir, aired a month earlier on 20th November  to an audience of 23 million in Britain alone.  The interview had been conducted with almost conspiratorial secrecy with only a handful of people in the know.  In the hour-long interview the strained-looking Princess had talked candidly not only about her marriage and private life but also her doubts about her husband's suitability to reign.  The episode was highly embarrassing for the Palace and the Queen, who were informed about the programme only half an hour before the rest of the world knew.  It came at a time when the Palace had for a while been considering bringing ITV into production of the Christmas Broadcasts in an attempt to 'freshen up' the programme, but for years the BBC had thwarted ITV's desire to become involved, stressing their 'traditions of loyalty' (Lacey, Royal, 2002 edition).  To the Palace, who felt betrayed, this 'loyalty' did not seem to count for much now, and it seemed like a good time to end the BBC's monopoly.  The Palace denied that it was punishing the BBC for the Panorama interview, but were quite open that the decision had been 'accelerated' by the matter (Pimlott, The Queen, 1996).  Internal memoranda from the BBC reveal that the Corporation were convinced that the decision had been an act of revenge and that they had effectively been 'sacked' as producer of the Broadcast.

The formal announcement that, as of 1997 (preliminary work had already begun on the 1996 broadcast), the BBC would share production and costs of the Broadcast with ITV on a rotating two-yearly basis came in July 1996. If the general feeling in the upper echelons of the BBC was one of regret at the loss of the monopoly - for there may well have been those at the Corporation who were by no means sorry to see the end of the 'special relationship' (Hardman, Our Queen, 2011) - then they only had themselves to blame.

Elizabeth II was herself in no mood to make a soap opera of her Christmas message and studiously avoided any mention of her family's troubles.  That her quoting of the line from Scripture 'blessed are the peacemakers' could be interpreted as a tacit acknowledgement of her own supposed role in trying to mediate between her feuding son and daughter-in-law was a final cruel irony in a difficult year.

Upon viewing the 1995 production, one can sympathise with the desire of the Palace to freshen up the annual Broadcast.  Although filmed in the Long Library of Sandringham House (as the 1993 message had been two years earlier), little is done to take advantage of the surroundings:  the most we see of the room is a three-quarter length shot of the Queen seated alongside a table, in front of a window and with the obligatory Christmas tree behind.  Cosmetically, it could be almost be said that the main difference between this and the 1994 production is the colour of Her Majesty's dress.  There is also heavy use of stock footage, which although relevant to the Queen's text is at times dangerously close to becoming a distraction.

Note:  the wording of the officially released text of the 1995 message, available here, at times varies considerably from that of the television version, though the essence is the same.

Trivia:  The photograph at the Queen's side is of her as Princess Elizabeth with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret, appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on VE Day.  Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who famously appeared on the balcony with the royal family on this occasion, is not seen in this particular photograph.

The 1996 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  'To look back is not necessarily to be nostalgic'.  So begins the Queen's 1996 address in a year in which Elizabeth II reached the age of seventy.  The message is essentially an explanation of her role as monarch, together with an expression of hope in the future.  With accompanying footage, the Queen explains some of the annual ceremonies and rituals of her year:  the Maundy Service on the Thursday before Easter, Trooping the Colour in June and the State Opening of Parliament;  with each an explanation of their roots in history and tradition and their relevance for today.  The Queen talks of her state visits abroad, including in 1996 Poland (by then democratic and emerging from Communist oppression) and receiving heads of state herself, including in the previous months the state visits of Nelson Mandela and the President of France.

On a more sombre note the Queen remembers families who have endured a difficult year and recalls the massacre of schoolchildren in Dunblane earlier in the year which had horrified the whole United Kingdom as well as the massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania which had happened in April.  The Queen says that if we have faith in and follow the example of Jesus - 'the child born at Christmas' - then the New Year 'with all its challenges and chances, should hold no terrors for us, and we should be able to embark upon it undaunted.'

Commentary:  In addition to the chilly winter blasts from the North Sea, the winds of change were blowing across the Sandringham estate during Christmas 1996 and as she enjoyed the old festive traditions she had known since a child, one gets the impression that Elizabeth II sensed it.  For a start, there were the known changes;  this Broadcast was to see the end of the long BBC monopoly of the Royal Christmas Message which it had enjoyed since King George V first took to the microphone on Christmas Day 1932.  This would also mark the last of five consecutive Broadcasts from the Queen's Norfolk home, the 'birthplace' of the Christmas Message:  the five year Sandringham 'cycle' would prove to be a pleasant aberration.
Then there was the unknown:  all the opinion polls suggested that the long period of Conservative rule in the United Kingdom was coming to an end and that 'New' Labour, with its reformist constitutional and social agenda, was heading for a large majority at the general election the following year.  However, it was to be the completely unforeseen which shook the House of Windsor itself to its very foundations;  the Queen could scarcely have imagined that in only nine months time she would be broadcasting to her subjects again as the British Monarchy faced its biggest crisis since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.  More than anything it would be the death of Diana, Princess of Wales which would mean that things would never be the same again for Elizabeth II.

The essence of the Queen's message is clear:  this is what I do, this is what I have always done and - no matter what changes may be ahead - this is what I will continue to do.  Her Majesty is emphatic that continuity is important and that what she does is relevant;  it is steeped in history, yet it matters in the present and the future.

Despite Her Majesty's opening words, there is definitely a nostalgic air to the production.  Dispensing with the usual royal fanfare, the Broadcast begins with specially shot footage of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh walking through the grounds of Sandringham;  the accompanying music is the theme from the BBC's ground-breaking 1992 documentary Elizabeth R, a reminder to the viewer of the special relationship between monarch and national broadcaster (which, by the very presence of these opening shots, is implicitly acknowledged by both).

This production is more imaginative than the previous two 'samey' Broadcasts, with, in addition to the opening, the Drawing Room of Sandringham House getting some good exposure before Her Majesty walks on to the 'set':  the BBC were perhaps conscious of the official reason for ITV being brought in to the production, that the Palace wanted to try new ideas.  At the end of the programme the rousing vocal rendition of God Save the Queen heard in the 1994 broadcast is played, accompanied by montage footage of Elizabeth II's year.  The message to the viewer is "no hard feelings" between the BBC and the Palace.  The message to ITV, as they prepared to take over the responsibility for the next two years is "beat that!"

Trivia:  The Queen does not refer to her seventieth birthday, the celebrations of which had been, at her own request, low-key.  The day itself (21st April) had fallen on a Sunday and Her Majesty marked it quietly at Windsor.

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