The 1955 Broadcast

 

Elizabeth II and her family;  1955 Christmas card

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II reflects on the spirit of exploration and 'the adventure into the unknown' of each New Year, within the context of opportunities arising through membership of the Commonwealth.  Having returned from their long six-month tour of the Commonwealth in the spring of the previous year, the Queen acknowledges that she and the Duke of Edinburgh had spent most of 1955 in Britain and speaks of the opportunity they had to visit parts of the United Kingdom they had not seen before. Her Majesty also looks forward to her forthcoming visit to Nigeria.

Commentary:

As with the previous year, there is apparently very little widely available surviving documentation about the 1955 production and, like 1954, there does not even appear to be a publicity photograph to give the Broadcast an individual identity (although this would not become a firmly established practice until the 1970s).  It seems to all intents and purposes to have been a routine but largely unmemorable Christmas Message from Sovereign to peoples; recognised as an annual tradition, but not yet the institution it would become in the television era.

History does record that Elizabeth II delivered the Message from the study at Sandringham House, which had been the usual practice since the days of King George V.  It has also been noted that, in addition to the radio, this was the first time in the United Kingdom that the Message had been broadcast - as sound only - simultaneously on the BBC television service and the new ITV channel, thus avoiding the unconscionable situation where Her Majesty's British Subjects might have found something else to watch or listen to!

What we can do with the 1955 speech is study the Queen's words.  Already we can see that, less than four years into her reign, Elizabeth II views the Christmas Message as an important means of promoting the emerging Commonwealth, just as her grandfather George V saw his annual address as a way of communicating to the wider Empire as well as the British people.  To a greater or lesser degree, the Queen has brought her thoughts on the importance and development of the Commonwealth into most of her Christmas Broadcasts through the years.

It is interesting to observe how filled with optimism and energy the Queen's early broadcasts are, with a keen emphasis on exploration and scientific development (though not at the expense of enduring values).  In later years, Elizabeth II's Messages became much more reflective, drawing on her wisdom and experience.  The speeches have also become more Christian in tone, with Her Majesty often describing her own personal faith (in 1955 there are only the briefest of references to the Christmas themes of 'peace on earth' and 'goodwill to men').

 Notes:

Elizabeth II's first British prime minister, the great wartime leader Winston Churchill, had resigned in the spring of 1955, aged 80 and in far from good health.  The departure of Churchill, who had returned to office in 1951 after several years in Opposition, had been widely expected for some time; but he showed a curious reluctance to leave, coming up with inventive reasons to delay his retirement - often citing the need to stay to guide the young Queen.  Perhaps surprisingly to some, Elizabeth II did not  pay tribute to Churchill in her speech, even through he was widely regarded to have transcended politics and had been close to the House of Windsor, King George VI in particular, during the war years.  This set a precedent where Elizabeth II would not refer to the comings and goings of her prime ministers, in Britain or the Commonwealth, in her Christmas speeches.  Given the controversial nature of some of these over the years, this was perhaps a wise decision.

The Queen quotes from then Poet Laureate John Masefield's The Wanderer in her comments about exploration.  The poem tells of Masefield's love of ships.  Elizabeth II does not mention Masefield by name and refers to him simply as 'our Poet Laureate.'  Given that at more than thirty-six years in the post his tenure would ultimately be second only to Tennyson's, Masefield probably needed no introduction to most listeners.  The Queen quotes two verses of the poem:

"Though you have conquered Earth and charted Sea
And planned the courses of all Stars that be,
Adventure on, more wonders are in Thee.

Adventure on, for from the littlest clue
Has come whatever worth man ever knew;
The next to lighten all men may be you."

 

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