The 1990 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  After briefly recalling two of the happier events from her family's year, Princess Eugenie's christening and the Queen Mother's ninetieth birthday celebrations, the Queen moves to the serious subject of the threat of war in the Persian Gulf and pays tribute to the Armed Services who were spending Christmas at their posts preparing for military action.  Elizabeth II condemns the invasion of Kuwait as 'an example on an international scale of an evil which has beset us at different levels in recent years - attempts by ruthless people to impose their will on the peaceable majority' and goes on to praise the 'almost unanimous' response of the international community in opposing it. 

Remembering that Christ 'did not promise the earth to the powerful', Her Majesty also praises the courage of those who go about their daily lives in defiance of danger and tyranny:  'By just getting on with the job, they are getting the better of those who want to harm our way of life.' 

The Queen also recalls the tributes paid earlier in the year to those involved in Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain fifty years earlier.

Commentary:  With war in the Middle East imminent, the 1990s had begun on an ominous note.  Indeed, in February 1991, Elizabeth II was moved to make a rare extra broadcast only eight weeks after the Christmas Message was released as British armed forces prepared to take part in the ground offensive to liberate Kuwait.

Despite the serious tone of the Message, this is visually a particularly attractive production.  With subdued lighting, candle-style tree lights together with cards and Christmas roses in the background, there is a comforting, homely feel to the broadcast.  The Queen herself appears to have undergone a subtle makeover for the occasion and looks especially endearing this year.  After the highly unusual Broadcast of 1989 it was a great relief to return to a pleasing, traditional 'classic' look in 1990,  not least given the context of an uncertain international situation.

Trivia:  Behind the scenes footage from this broadcast can be seen in the BBC's ground-breaking Elizabeth R documentary, shown in the early spring of 1992.  In the short sequence we see the Queen checking that the colour of her outfit blends in suitably with the background, as well as questioning the position of the microphone.

This was the last time Elizabeth II delivered her Christmas message without the aid of spectacles.

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The 1991 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  1991 had seen the election of Boris Yeltsin as the first democratically elected president of Russia; the end of the Soviet Union consequently marking the final collapse of communism in Eastern Europe which had begun in 1989.  The importance of freedom and democracy is therefore the major theme of Elizabeth II's speech.  The Queen observes how the beginning of her own reign in 1952 coincided with the start of the 'Cold War' and how the tensions between East and West built up in the ensuing years, only to change 'quite suddenly' and 'with bewildering speed' following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.  Her Majesty speaks of how the countries of Eastern Europe have taken their first tentative steps towards democracy, but reflects on how those of us in the West who are used to democracy should not take our freedoms for granted, should reflect on our 'good fortune' and  consider whether we can set an example for the newer democracies to follow.  One such way, the Queen suggests, is to play a role in our communities, singling out volunteers in various areas for praise.  However, the Queen cautions: 'But let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly of wisdom and we must always be ready to listen and respect other points of view.'

Elizabeth II ends by acknowledging that 1992 will mark the fortieth anniversary of her Accession to the throne and states that she has tried to follow her father's example and serve 'as best I can'.  She ends by giving 'heartfelt thanks' to her subjects for their loyalty in return and gives a concluding pledge: 'I feel the same obligation to you that I felt in 1952. With your prayers, and your help, and with the love and support of my family, I shall try to serve you in the years to come.'

Commentary:  This was Elizabeth II's second broadcast of 1991;  the Queen had given a short address to the Commonwealth as British troops prepared to take part in the US-led ground offensive in the Gulf War.  Her hopes of a swift and successful campaign had been realised, in part thanks to almost unprecedented international co-operation in the liberation of Kuwait, but Her Majesty chose not to return to the subject in her Christmas message.

This could be  described as the last of the 'old school' Christmas Broadcasts.  It would be seven long years before production returned to its default home of Buckingham Palace and when it did the Regency Room, the familiar surroundings for more than twenty years, would not be seen again until 2016, twenty-five years later, as changes in style and technology led to a desire to make use of some of the more grand rooms in the Palace.  Production values are, in fact, rather basic here.  There is none of the subtle, twinkling, 'Christmassy' lighting which had characterised David Attenborough's previous productions;  the Queen sits behind her desk in front of a window in daylight and delivers an uninterrupted narrative.  Other than the presence of the by now obligatory Christmas tree there is little to distinguish this from any production since the beginning of the colour television age.

Trivia:  Elizabeth II's transition to her natural hair colour was by now complete.  The slow transformation first became noticeable in 1988 and (to the keen-eyed viewer) the change in its later stages can be observed throughout the BBC's Elizabeth R documentary, broadcast in early 1992.

 

This was the first time that the Queen wore spectacles to deliver her Christmas Message. 

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The 1992 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:   

 

In a year in which Elizabeth II had seen the collapse of the marriages of three out of her four children (the youngest, Prince Edward, was as yet unmarried), unprecedented scrutiny of her tax and financial affairs and a fire which badly damaged her favourite home of Windsor Castle, the Queen, as expected, refers to her personal problems at the end of what she herself described as her annus horribilis.  After speaking of the comforting, familiar surrounding of Sandringham, the venue of many happy Christmases throughout her life, Her Majesty acknowledges her family's difficulties in this 'sombre' year:  'Like many other families, we have lived through some difficult days this year. The prayers, understanding and sympathy given to us by so many of you, in good times and bad, have lent us great support and encouragement. It has touched me deeply that much of this has come from those of you who have troubles of your own.'  However, the Queen draws strength from the work of Servicemen and women, aid workers and the courage of humanitarian Leonard Cheshire during his terminal illness which helped her to put her own problems into perspective.  The Queen looks ahead to 1993 on a positive note with renewed hope:  'I and my family, as we approach a new year, will draw strength from this faith in our commitment to your service in the coming years.'

Commentary:  

 

Seldom has a Christmas message from Elizabeth II been more keenly anticipated than that of 1992.  Never one to use her annual address to dwell on her own family's issues, this had been such an appalling year for the Monarchy that it was generally accepted that the Queen would address the subject of her difficulties.  When she does so, she downplays her problems with characteristic understatement, never once appearing sensationalistic.  It is seldom more apparent than here that Elizabeth II is a woman of faith and optimism. 

It is perhaps ironic that this worst of all years for the Queen should coincide with one of the most impressive Christmas broadcast productions in many years.  Philip Gilbert, who had replaced David  Attenborough as producer of the Broadcast, secured a return to Sandringham, the spiritual home of the Christmas Message, for the first time since the pre-recording of the broadcasts began in 1960.  The Sandringham 'cycle' would continue for the next five years.  As the Queen walks through the Small Drawing Room at the start of the production, talking about her father and grandfather, her childhood and her grandchildren, in the very place where she is spending Christmas, there is a genuinely personal feel to the broadcast at a time when Her Majesty needed the support and understanding of her subjects.  There is no interspersed footage to interrupt her words;  the focus is entirely on the Queen as she speaks from her home and from her heart and it strikes just the right note.  The production is rounded off perfectly as a montage of photographs from the Queen's forty year reign (there had been no major celebrations at her own request) are shown to the accompaniment of a soulful rendition of God Save The Queen.

There was to be one last painful twist in the annus horribilis involving the Christmas broadcast itself.  The text of the message was leaked to the Sun newspaper who printed the speech virtually word for word two days before broadcast, breaking normal embargo rules.  The Sun claimed to have done nothing illegal and to have obtained the story by 'good, old-fashioned techniques'.  However, the Queen was said to be 'very, very distressed' by the leak and her lawyers threatened legal action.  Ultimately, the Sun settled out of court and agreed to pay £200,000 to charity plus legal costs (Pimlott, The Queen, 1996).

Notes:

It is often wrongly supposed that Elizabeth II coined the term 'annus horribilis' during this Christmas message.  In fact, she had said it in a speech to the Guildhall the previous month.  The 'sympathetic correspondent' who used the term was later revealed to be the Queen's former courtier Sir Edward Ford.

 

The Sandringham guide book (2012 Diamond Jubilee edition) describes the Small Drawing Room thus: 'The delicate decoration of this room is reflected in the walls which are hung with English silk, manufactured in Suffolk.  Much of the porcelain is Meissen and Copenhagen acquired by the Princess of Wales in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.  The decoration is floral or musical, themes which continue on the set of three Sheraton-style armchairs which are painted with flowers and musical instruments.  The seat covers were worked by Queen Mary in 1935.'

 

The Christmas tree decorations seen here appear to be the same ones used in the Broadcast from Buckingham Palace the previous year.

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The 1993 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:   

 

After her infamous (and self-described) annus horribilis of 1992, Her Majesty returned to more general themes in this message.  After a personal reference to her surroundings of the Long Library and its historical associations with her family, the Queen turns to the topic of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the end of the First World War; reflecting on how in the modern 'global village', unlike the 1914-1918 conflict, the horrors of war are brought to us via television news.  However, Her Majesty observes that the pictures can also bring better news such as the peace processes in Northern Ireland and the Middle East which were much reported on in 1993.  The Queen goes on to praise those involved in international charity work for the benefit of others and ends by recalling the message of hope embodied by the Christ Child.

Commentary:   

 

In this, the second of Philip Gilbert's five Sandringham productions, the Long Library at Sandringham House is well showcased.  There are lingering wide-angle shots of the festively bedecked library at the start of the broadcast, while Her Majesty moves slowly from place to place during the early part of her speech.  This was the first time that the Library had been used as the location of the Christmas Message since Elizabeth II's first two televised broadcasts of 1957 and 1958.  In those days, of course, the speech was delivered 'live' and in black and white;  there had been obvious advances in television technology in the intervening thirty-five years.

As the tone of the Message moves from the old to contemporary issues of the day, the production lapses into untypical gimmickry.  The Queen stands alongside a strategically placed television set, on which is shown a montage of topical news footage;  usually Her Majesty would be allowed to simply refer to news events while speaking to the camera without recourse to such novelties.  By the end of the footage, Elizabeth II is seen in a more traditional position, seated behind a large desk, from where she completes the remainder of her speech.

Notes:

The large book open in front of the Queen is something of a mystery:  at times Her Majesty appears to be quoting from the King James Bible, but towards the end of her Message - from the same page - she reads part of a verse from the carol O Little Town Of Bethlehem!

In this year, Britain's Channel 4 broadcast its first Alternative Christmas Message timed, perhaps disingenuously, to clash directly with Elizabeth II's speech.  First featuring (rather cornily) the flamboyant writer Quentin Crisp, the programme has subsequently become something of a subversive tradition on the network, often featuring either eccentric celebrities or controversial public figures.

Elizabeth II has not varied her hairstyle much since her coronation in 1953, but is seen sporting untypically 'big' hair in this broadcast.

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