Last December a reader posted a comment asking if I knew whether Queen Elizabeth's broadcasts from the 1960s and 70s could be found online. The truth is that I only have access to what can be found by anyone else who does regular Internet searches.
Regarding general availability, all of Elizabeth II's Christmas messages from 1984 onwards can be found in full on YouTube, but the quality of the copies is often variable.
Before 1984 things get more difficult. At around the time I began this blog, archive websites from organisations such as C-Span, AP, British Pathé and the apparently now defunct itnsource.com began posting clips (and even some full versions) of Christmas Messages from the earlier decades of the late Queen's reign. Many of these were subsequently taken down but were saved and re-posted on various YouTube accounts. Very recently a considerable amount of material, including clips from several long-forgotten broadcasts and the full broadcast from 1958 (which I had not seen a complete version of before) has appeared online.
Here's a summery of what I know:
Televised broadcasts with complete versions available: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1968, 1974 (black & white version), 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980 (no sound!), 1982, 1983 (signing & subtitles). All broadcasts from 1984 onwards.
Partial televised broadcasts (anything from brief clips to lengthier segments): 1962, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 (colour version), 1976, 1980, 1981.
Radio only broadcasts online: 1952, 1953, 1963.
The missing years where no archive material is apparently available are 1964 and 1978 (except for footage of Elizabeth II with her daughter Princess Anne and first grandchild Peter Phillips, which was used in the broadcast). Also, no copies can be found online of radio only broadcasts from 1954 to 1956 and 1959.
It is worth noting that all Christmas broadcasts up until 1997 are entirely the preserve of the BBC, which is apparently somewhat reluctant to release anything other than clips of historical broadcasts. Given the BBC's notoriously atrocious track record of preserving archive material this is hardly encouraging!
