Location: Buckingham Palace
Produced by: Sky
Theme:
In a speech which was interpreted in various ways by the media, Elizabeth II talks of the importance of 'goodwill'. Her Majesty speaks of the comfort she personally has found in 'faith, family and friendship', yet warns against 'tribalism': 'Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person
with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step
towards greater understanding.' The Queen says that Christ's message of peace and goodwill is 'never out of date': 'It can be heeded by everyone; it's needed as much as ever.'
Elizabeth II also refers to the centenary of the Royal Air Force, her father's naval service during the First World War and, on a personal note, recalls a busy year for the Royal Family; with two weddings and two births (and another one expected) which she jokes ' helps to keep a grandmother well occupied.'
Commentary:
Parts of the media seemed very keen to portray the theme of the 2018 speech as a kind of end-of-term ticking-off from the headmistress. Who exactly was Her Majesty taking aim at with her calls for respect and goodwill? Was she addressing a Britain divided over Brexit, a few months before Article 50 was due to take effect? Could she have been referring to the political landscape in the United States, polarised over the Donald Trump presidency? Or perhaps it was a coded message to the supposedly feuding Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex? All but the first of these can probably be swiftly discounted; but even if the Queen was making an oblique reference to Brexit divisions, seen everywhere in Britain from the House of Commons to the local supermarket, it was subtle enough to be well within the bounds of her constitutional neutrality and using terminology which is, after all, connected with the Christmas story.
In the second of Sky's back-to-back productions, Buckingham Palace is the location for the eighth consecutive time. The centrality of the Palace is, however, downplayed to allow an emphasis on the choir of King's College, Cambridge, celebrating its centenary. There is only one external shot - of the rear of the Palace seen immediately before the camera cuts to the Queen; but, highly unusually for recent decades, there is no sign at all of the Royal Standard (which is usually seen in prominence at some point fluttering in the breeze) anywhere in the production.
The choice of room is the White Drawing Room, last used in 2012 but not showcased in its own right since 2009. The White Drawing Room is arguably the grandest of Buckingham Palace's state rooms and is seen here in what looks pretty close to its usual arrangement. A Christmas tree, flower arrangements and a photograph-covered desk for the Queen are the usual festive additions to achieve the requisite cosiness. The Erard Piano, bought by Queen Victoria in 1856 and now part of the Royal Collection Trust, is seen in prominence during the production.
The choir of King's College Cambridge are in prominence at the beginning and end of the Broadcast. The programme starts with some splendid photography from inside the chapel accompanied by a grand organ fanfare preceding the singing of God Save The Queen. The choir return at the end for a rendition of the familiar carol Once In Royal David's City. The Broadcast is also interspersed with footage from the RAF centenary fly-past earlier in the year, the weddings of Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie and the birth of Prince Louis.
Notes:
In recent years the photographs displayed on Elizabeth II's desk have formed an important part of the narrative of the speech. In this year we see pictures of Prince Charles (who had celebrated his seventieth birthday the previous month) as a baby and more recently with his family; photographs from the weddings of the Queen's grandchildren Harry and Eugenie; her father Prince Albert (later King George VI) during his Navy service in the First World War and also of Prince William with his growing family.
The presence of the Erard Piano in the Broadcast was criticised by some anti-monarchists on Twitter who considered it 'tone deaf' that the Queen should be sitting alongside a 'gold piano' while talking about poverty. Such people were seemingly unaware that the piano in question is a Royal Collection item in a Buckingham Palace state room and not Elizabeth II's personal property, or that the Queen never actually mentioned 'poverty' in her speech.
Once again, Elizabeth II's Christmas Message topped Christmas Day viewing figures in the UK with a combined audience of 6.3 million, although ratings dropped by more than one million compared with 2017 figures, with Netflix and streaming services being blamed for the general decline in television audiences.
Elizabeth II wears an ivory silk cocktail dress by Angela Kelly along with the Scarab brooch, which was a gift from Prince Philip in 1966.
The 2018 Message was recorded on 12th December.
Full text here
Commentary:
Parts of the media seemed very keen to portray the theme of the 2018 speech as a kind of end-of-term ticking-off from the headmistress. Who exactly was Her Majesty taking aim at with her calls for respect and goodwill? Was she addressing a Britain divided over Brexit, a few months before Article 50 was due to take effect? Could she have been referring to the political landscape in the United States, polarised over the Donald Trump presidency? Or perhaps it was a coded message to the supposedly feuding Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex? All but the first of these can probably be swiftly discounted; but even if the Queen was making an oblique reference to Brexit divisions, seen everywhere in Britain from the House of Commons to the local supermarket, it was subtle enough to be well within the bounds of her constitutional neutrality and using terminology which is, after all, connected with the Christmas story.
In the second of Sky's back-to-back productions, Buckingham Palace is the location for the eighth consecutive time. The centrality of the Palace is, however, downplayed to allow an emphasis on the choir of King's College, Cambridge, celebrating its centenary. There is only one external shot - of the rear of the Palace seen immediately before the camera cuts to the Queen; but, highly unusually for recent decades, there is no sign at all of the Royal Standard (which is usually seen in prominence at some point fluttering in the breeze) anywhere in the production.
The choice of room is the White Drawing Room, last used in 2012 but not showcased in its own right since 2009. The White Drawing Room is arguably the grandest of Buckingham Palace's state rooms and is seen here in what looks pretty close to its usual arrangement. A Christmas tree, flower arrangements and a photograph-covered desk for the Queen are the usual festive additions to achieve the requisite cosiness. The Erard Piano, bought by Queen Victoria in 1856 and now part of the Royal Collection Trust, is seen in prominence during the production.
The choir of King's College Cambridge are in prominence at the beginning and end of the Broadcast. The programme starts with some splendid photography from inside the chapel accompanied by a grand organ fanfare preceding the singing of God Save The Queen. The choir return at the end for a rendition of the familiar carol Once In Royal David's City. The Broadcast is also interspersed with footage from the RAF centenary fly-past earlier in the year, the weddings of Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie and the birth of Prince Louis.
Notes:
In recent years the photographs displayed on Elizabeth II's desk have formed an important part of the narrative of the speech. In this year we see pictures of Prince Charles (who had celebrated his seventieth birthday the previous month) as a baby and more recently with his family; photographs from the weddings of the Queen's grandchildren Harry and Eugenie; her father Prince Albert (later King George VI) during his Navy service in the First World War and also of Prince William with his growing family.
The presence of the Erard Piano in the Broadcast was criticised by some anti-monarchists on Twitter who considered it 'tone deaf' that the Queen should be sitting alongside a 'gold piano' while talking about poverty. Such people were seemingly unaware that the piano in question is a Royal Collection item in a Buckingham Palace state room and not Elizabeth II's personal property, or that the Queen never actually mentioned 'poverty' in her speech.
Once again, Elizabeth II's Christmas Message topped Christmas Day viewing figures in the UK with a combined audience of 6.3 million, although ratings dropped by more than one million compared with 2017 figures, with Netflix and streaming services being blamed for the general decline in television audiences.
Elizabeth II wears an ivory silk cocktail dress by Angela Kelly along with the Scarab brooch, which was a gift from Prince Philip in 1966.
The 2018 Message was recorded on 12th December.
Full text here
No comments:
Post a Comment