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.