Location: Buckingham Palace
Produced by: BBC
Theme: The Queen devotes almost all of this message to discussion of the Commonwealth, in the bicentennial year of Captain Cook's discovery of Australia. Elizabeth II recalls the many thousands of miles she had travelled during the year visiting Commonwealth countries such as Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia early in the year followed by Canada, the North-west Territories and Manitoba later on. The Queen stresses the ties between the Commonwealth Countries and Britain.
Commentary: After the hiatus of 1969, the Broadcast was back for the 1970s with a revamp. Richard Cawston, who had been behind the successful 1969 documentary Royal Family, was drafted in as producer and wasted no time in bringing in production values which would equip Elizabeth II's annual message for the golden age of television. Whereas in the 1960s the Christmas Message had been a televised speech, it would from this point be a polished television production.
The Broadcast centres on what had been a particularly well-travelled year for the Queen. At the start of the production we see Her Majesty standing behind a large globe, addressing the camera about some of the many Commonwealth countries she had visited during the year. Always keen to speak of her love of the Commonwealth, in this Message more than any other Elizabeth II focuses almost entirely on the 'family of nations'. As she speaks, film of the Queen from some of the year's tours is shown, including footage from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. External footage had been shown in previous Broadcasts, of course, but from now on such sequences would increasingly form part of the annual production.
The later part of the production sees Elizabeth II speaking to camera from the desk of what contemporary publicity describes as her own sitting room at Buckingham Palace. A little research does indeed seem to identify this as the Queen's Sitting Room previously used by Queen Mary and earlier still by Queen Victoria. If this truly is Elizabeth II's private sitting room, then Her Majesty may have been persuaded to allow the cameras in as a result of a desire on the part of her subjects to get "up close and personal" with the Monarch and her family following the success of Royal Family. Also, producer Richard Cawston may have striven for authenticity: in the 1960s the Bow Room had been professionally arranged to give the appearance of a comfortable sitting room, but as a set-up it was demonstrably false. It must be pointed out, however, that the Queen's Sitting Room has - to date- been used only on this one occasion. Her Majesty must surely have found the presence of a television crew in her private apartments disruptive and the following year the far more suitable Regency Room would begin its long association with the Christmas Broadcast.
If there had been concern in Palace circles that audience figures for the Queen's Christmas Message had been in decline in the 1960s, then albeit unintentionally, perhaps the best publicity of all had been not to produce a Broadcast in 1969. The production could no longer be taken for granted and would go on to become a cherished part of festive viewing throughout the 1970s and beyond.
Notes:
Despite the revamped production it is noticeable (and somewhat distracting) during the later part of the Broadcast that the Queen is not using an autocue (teleprompter). Time and again, Elizabeth II glances at the script in front of her and at one point nearly stumbles on her words. Looking back at the Broadcasts of the 1960s it would appear that Her Majesty had long since overcome her initial reservations and succumbed to the device, so the reasons for its apparent absence here are lost in time.
Throughout this Broadcast Elizabeth II wears the New Zealand Fern Brooch, presented to Her Majesty in Auckland on Christmas Day 1953, during her Commonwealth world tour.
Trivia:
This is the only Broadcast in which the Queen wears a single strand pearl necklace.
Elizabeth II has at least three known desks at Buckingham Palace where she has been photographed or filmed at work at various points during her reign: in the Regency Room, the Queen's Audience Chamber and here, the Queen's Sitting Room. It seems that the Queen's Sitting Room is by far the most private and least seen of the three, indeed the Queen does not appear to have been pictured here since this Broadcast.
Full text here
Commentary: After the hiatus of 1969, the Broadcast was back for the 1970s with a revamp. Richard Cawston, who had been behind the successful 1969 documentary Royal Family, was drafted in as producer and wasted no time in bringing in production values which would equip Elizabeth II's annual message for the golden age of television. Whereas in the 1960s the Christmas Message had been a televised speech, it would from this point be a polished television production.
The Broadcast centres on what had been a particularly well-travelled year for the Queen. At the start of the production we see Her Majesty standing behind a large globe, addressing the camera about some of the many Commonwealth countries she had visited during the year. Always keen to speak of her love of the Commonwealth, in this Message more than any other Elizabeth II focuses almost entirely on the 'family of nations'. As she speaks, film of the Queen from some of the year's tours is shown, including footage from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. External footage had been shown in previous Broadcasts, of course, but from now on such sequences would increasingly form part of the annual production.
The later part of the production sees Elizabeth II speaking to camera from the desk of what contemporary publicity describes as her own sitting room at Buckingham Palace. A little research does indeed seem to identify this as the Queen's Sitting Room previously used by Queen Mary and earlier still by Queen Victoria. If this truly is Elizabeth II's private sitting room, then Her Majesty may have been persuaded to allow the cameras in as a result of a desire on the part of her subjects to get "up close and personal" with the Monarch and her family following the success of Royal Family. Also, producer Richard Cawston may have striven for authenticity: in the 1960s the Bow Room had been professionally arranged to give the appearance of a comfortable sitting room, but as a set-up it was demonstrably false. It must be pointed out, however, that the Queen's Sitting Room has - to date- been used only on this one occasion. Her Majesty must surely have found the presence of a television crew in her private apartments disruptive and the following year the far more suitable Regency Room would begin its long association with the Christmas Broadcast.
If there had been concern in Palace circles that audience figures for the Queen's Christmas Message had been in decline in the 1960s, then albeit unintentionally, perhaps the best publicity of all had been not to produce a Broadcast in 1969. The production could no longer be taken for granted and would go on to become a cherished part of festive viewing throughout the 1970s and beyond.
Notes:
Despite the revamped production it is noticeable (and somewhat distracting) during the later part of the Broadcast that the Queen is not using an autocue (teleprompter). Time and again, Elizabeth II glances at the script in front of her and at one point nearly stumbles on her words. Looking back at the Broadcasts of the 1960s it would appear that Her Majesty had long since overcome her initial reservations and succumbed to the device, so the reasons for its apparent absence here are lost in time.
Throughout this Broadcast Elizabeth II wears the New Zealand Fern Brooch, presented to Her Majesty in Auckland on Christmas Day 1953, during her Commonwealth world tour.
Trivia:
This is the only Broadcast in which the Queen wears a single strand pearl necklace.
Elizabeth II has at least three known desks at Buckingham Palace where she has been photographed or filmed at work at various points during her reign: in the Regency Room, the Queen's Audience Chamber and here, the Queen's Sitting Room. It seems that the Queen's Sitting Room is by far the most private and least seen of the three, indeed the Queen does not appear to have been pictured here since this Broadcast.
Full text here
No comments:
Post a Comment