Location: Windsor Castle
Produced by: BBC
Theme:
In what was perhaps the most extraordinary year of her long reign, Elizabeth II praises
the front-line healthcare workers and 'good Samaritans' who served
Britain and the Comonwealth during the Covid-19 pandemic amid the extreme
measures introduced worldwide to try to stop its spread: 'In the United Kingdom and around the world, people have risen
magnificently to the challenges of the year, and I am so proud and moved
by this quiet, indomitable spirit. To our young people in particular I
say thank you for the part you have played.'
The Queen
remembers those who have lost loved ones during the year and the
millions seperated from families and friends at Christmas due to
'lockdowns', but observes positively, 'Remarkably, a year that has necessarily kept people apart has, in many ways, brought us closer.'
As so often, Her Majesty also recalls the Christmas story
and explains how her own Christian faith is a help and comfort in dificult times, stating that the teachings of Christ have 'served as my inner light'.
Commentary:
Elizabeth II broadcasts from the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, as she had done twelve months earlier; the first time the same room had been used for two consecutive years since 1991 (when the long dominance of the Regency Room at Buckingham Palace as the default location of the Christmas Broadcast ended). At first glance it looks as though the Queen was wearing the same dress as the previous year, too; although Her Majesty is actually dressed in rich purple (an Angela Kelly creation) rather than the royal blue of 2019. If the Queen had been consciously hinting that it would be a good idea to 'system restore' to the previous Christmas, doubtless few of her subjects would have disagreed!
Incredibly, this was the Queen's third television address of the year - or at least it would have been incredible in any year other than 2020. Her Majesty had delivered her now famous 'We will meet again' speech on 5th April (echoing the famous wartime song of 'Forces Sweetheart' Dame Vera Lynn), as the United Kingdom entered full 'lockdown' due to the spiralling number of coronavirus cases affecting the UK and virtually every country in the world. Elizabeth II addressed the UK and Commonwealth again on 8th May, as the 75th anniversary of VE Day took place with the UK in 'lockdown'. Such non-Christmas television addresses are extremely rare and there had hitherto only been four precedents in Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign: the outbreak of war in the Gulf in 1991; the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997; the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 2002 and the Diamond Jubilee of 2012.
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| Elizabeth II addresses the UK and Commonwealth on 5th April, 2020. |
The content of the 2020 speech was kept a closely-guarded secret until broadcast on Christmas Day, in an effort to maximise the impact of the Queen's words. A senior source was quoted as saying: "It's the surprise factor. We just felt it would help with the impact this year." This was in sharp contrast to the previous year, when the Christmas Eve press ran with officially released teasers about Elizabeth II's reference to a 'bumpy' 2019.
The Christmas Broadcast is usually recorded in early December, but by the middle of the month the media were reporting that the speech was still not 'in the can', apparently because of Brexit uncertainty. The United Kingdom was due to leave the European Union on 31st December, with or without a deal; but negotiations between the UK and EU were going 'down to the wire' (a deal was ultimately announced on Christmas Eve). It was supposed that Elizabeth II may have wished to refer to the uncertainty in the event that the UK was to leave without a deal.
When the speech finally was recorded, it was filmed in very different circumstances to previous years. In line with medical guidelines, three 'socially-distanced' BBC camera crew, dressed in PPE, were present in the room with the Queen.
When Her Majesty's carefully-guarded words were finally revealed, they had full dramatic impact. Like millions of others in the UK and Commonwealth, Elizabeth II had spent Christmas seperated from loved ones; isolating quietly with the Duke of Edinburgh and core staff at Windsor and away from Sandringham for the first Christmas in more than thirty years. Many Britons had been expecting to spend Christmas with their families, but prime minister Boris Johnson's sensational u-turn in 'locking down' London and the south-east of England, just three days after confirming the planned five-day Christmas 'bubble', meant that for millions of people plans had to be scrapped. The Queen's highly unusual emotional words made headlines across the world. The essential message was "I share your pain":
'Of course, for many, this time of year will be tinged with sadness: some mourning the loss of those dear to them, and others missing friends and family-members distanced for safety, when all they’d really want for Christmas is a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand. If you are among them, you are not alone, and let me assure you of my thoughts and prayers.'
Yet, despite the difficult and uncertain times, Elizabeth II's Christian faith stood resolute and rock-like as ever. In the United Kingdom, recourse to God had not been part of the national strategy as far as the Government and media were concerned; in fact, for many months places of worship had been forced to close. For Elizabeth II, however, religion was highly relevant: 'The teachings of Christ have served as my inner light, as has the sense of purpose we can find in coming together to worship.'
The Broadcast itself is, understandably, visually somewhat scaled-down compared with the previous year. The Green Drawing Room is slightly re-arranged and the Queen is seen from two different camera angles. The BBC team did an excellent job of maintaining production standards despite working with a considerably-reduced technical crew. However, by necessity some of the 'niceties' that were possible the previous year were not an option in 2020: there are no wide-shots or roving camera angles showcasing the room, which is less sumptuously decorated than it had been a year earlier. One of the more noticable differences is that the Queen appears not to have had her usual Christmas broadcast 'makeover', perhaps doing her more subtle make-up herself or with the assistance of Angela Kelly.
Interspersed within the programme is footage of the Queen and members of her family during the year, often donning face masks and observing now standard 'social distancing' behavior which just twelve months previously would have been considered plain weird. This included Elizabeth II wearing a face covering while commemorating the Unknown Warrier at his tomb in Westminster Abbey during the Remembrance period in November. Captain Tom Moore, who became a national celebrity in the UK during lockdown for his fundraising efforts for the National Health Service by walking a sponsored one hundred laps of his garden as his 100th birthday approached, is not mentioned by name in the text of the speech, but features twice in the interspersed footage; firstly as Her Majesty praises those who made a particular effort during the pandemic (Moore ultimatelty raised a staggering £33 million) and secondly as he is knighted by Elizabeth II for his efforts in the grounds of Windsor Castle in a specially organised ceremony.
As usual in recent years, the Broadcast is supported by musical 'bookends'; at the beginning we see the band of the Household Cavalry, mounted on horseback, playing God Save the Queen outside St George's Chapel. At the end of the production, the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, who topped the UK charts ar Christmas 2015 with A Bridge Over You sing the cheerful carol Joy To the World. The Choir were instructed to learn the carol, but were kept in the dark as to the reasons why; only being told when they met up at their reglar rehearsal location of University Hospital Lewisham in south-west London that they would be taking part in the Queen's Christmas broadcast.
Notes:
The Queen wears the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch which once belonged to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, with whom it was a particular favourite. The brooch was designed by Lord Courtauld-Thomson, the son of a famous Scottish inventor. It was made in 1919 in London by The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co., Ltd, before being left to Queen Elizabeth in 1944 by his sister, Winifred Hope Thomson. The Queen Mother wore the brooch on numerous occasions, including on her 100th birthday.
Andre Levy, who sings with the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, said on Christmas Day: 'Only now am I digesting the experience, it was too much to take in on the day. It's like a child being given all the nicest things in the world in one go, without being able to sift through and appreciate it. It was an amazing experience. We were absolutely oblivious, everything was kept out of sight. Some of us were speculating among ourselves that it might be a high-profile celebrity, we even thought possibly royalty...Everyone was shocked, there was a little bit of silence but overall there was a euphoric feeling. Everyone was extremely excited, including myself, and felt very privileged to be a part of something like that...With everything that people have gone through - it's been one of the toughest years in history - it's wonderful to end on a high.'
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| Elizabeth II addresses the Commonwealth on the 75th anniversary of VE Day; 8th May, 2020. |
It seems likely that the location of the Broadcast had been intended to revert back to Buckingham Palace in 2020. A possible explanation as to why there have been so few Christmas Broadcasts recorded at Windsor Castle during Elizabeth II's reign - previously only six: 1982, 1984, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2019 - was offered by Robert Hardman, who pointed out that recording anything at Windsor can be problematic because of large amounts of air traffic, given the Castle's proximity to Heathrow. Hardman quotes the Duke of Edinburgh as having revealed that ' whenever the chosen location has been Windsor, it’s been a case of speaking in "30-second chunks" in between aircraft movements.' With the vastly reduced number of flghts during the lockdown and coronavirus pandemic, this had not been a particular problem in 2020.
Perhaps weary of the media game of 'who's in and who's out' regarding the photographs displayed during her Christmas broadcasts (most evident the previous year when much was made by the press of the absence of a photograph of Harry, Meghan and baby Archie) the Queen chose to have only one photograph on her desk this year. It is of her husband of 73 years, the Duke of Edinburgh, thought to have been taken in Sandringham in 2002. The Queen and Duke isolated together for much of 2020; mainly at Windsor, but also at Balmoral and the Sandringham Estate.
Elizabeth II's highly-regarded coronavirus broadcast on 5th April reached a television audience in the United Kingdom of a staggering 24 million, making it the second-largest television audience in ten years (second only to prime minister Boris Jonhson's speech announcing 'lockdown' a week prior). Such large viewing figures for network television are highly unusual in the post-millennium era. Some regarded it as the Queen's 'finest moment', following Her Majesty's stirring comments such as 'we will succeed' and 'we will meet again' as she spoke to a n uncertain and frightened world.
Elizabeth II actually made four broadcasts during 2020. A sound-only recording was released on Holy Saturday, 11th April. This was at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and is believed to be the first time that the Queen has given any form of Easter message.
This year's technical 'first' was that the Broadcast was released on Amazon Alexa smart devices.
Left-leaning UK network Channel 4 aired a 'deep fake' alternative message on Christmas Day featuring a manipulated 'Elizabeth II' supposedly speaking free from the constraints of the BBC; criticising Harry and Meghan, Prince Andrew and performing a 'Tik Tok' dance. The programme was widely condemned as mean-spirited, disingenuous and lacking in significant creative or artistic merit.
In the UK, Elizabeth II's speech reclaimed top spot in the Christmas Day ratings with 8.14 combined television viewers. This was comfortably ahead of Call the Midwife, in second place with 5.43 million.
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