The 2020 Broadcast

 

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. 

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.' 

Elizabeth II addresses the Commonwealth on the 75th anniversary of VE Day; 8th May, 2020.

As with the 2019 Christmas Broadcast, the 2020 production was filmed in Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room.  Elizabeth II's unprecedented previous two broadcasts of the year, in April and May, had been recorded in the Castle's White Drawing Room.

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. 

Full text here

 

The 2019 Broadcast

Location:  Windsor Castle

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

In a 'bumpy' year for her family and the United Kingdom as a whole, the Queen talks about the importance of reconciliation, remembering the seventy-fifth anniversary commemorations of D-Day earlier in the year, when once 'sworn enemies' had joined together for 'friendly commemorations either side of the Channel, putting past differences behind them.'  Elizabeth II acknowledges that such reconciliation takes 'patience and time' and is often the result of 'small steps'.  Her Majesty links this with the 'small step' of Neil Armstrong onto the surface of the moon fifty years earlier - a 'small step' with great significance.  Another 'small step', the Queen recalls, was the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, overlooked by many at the time.  The Queen concludes that 'it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.'

Elizabeth II also mentions new generations protecting the environment and climate, the work of the Armed Forces and emergency services and welcomes her eighth great-grandchild, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, to the royal family.

Commentary: 

It must be very frustrating for Elizabeth II that the years when there is the greatest media - and perhaps public - interest in the content of her speech are those when she has had a bad one.  2019 was certainly a turbulent year for the Queen, and the story of the annual Broadcast was being written possibly even before the speech itself.  The year began with Prince Philip's car crash on a Sandringham road, in which thankfully no-one was seriously injured;  there was the semi-public estrangement of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the rest of the royal family in general and the Duke of Duchess of Cambridge in particular; and the on-going personal scandal engulfing the Duke of York which resulted in the Queen's second son being effectively sacked from royal duties.  In the UK, the Queen's constitutional role was also in the news as a polarised Parliament resulted in Elizabeth II being played by both sides of the Brexit debate:  at one point she was compelled to sign unprecedented backbench-driven legislation into law as Remain supporters (with the connivance of Speaker John Bercow) seized control of House of Commons business; while later in the year Her Majesty was required to give permission for a controversial prorogation of Parliament, which was later, embarrassingly for her advisers, overturned by the UK Supreme Court (itself a contentious judgement).  In short, many in the media were talking about a second Annus Horribilis (a reference to her infamously bad year of 1992) and there was much speculation as to what Her Majesty might say.

Despite the frenzied conjecture, Elizabeth II's reflections on 2019 were made with her customary obliqueness;  in fact, the average Christmas Day viewer in a semi-snooze may have overlooked them entirely when spoken in context.  However, Her Majesty's comment about an at times 'quite bumpy' year was officially released on Christmas Eve and the UK press had a field day with it.

UK newspaper front pages;  Christmas Eve, 2019

Perhaps surprisingly, this was the first conventionally-delivered Christmas Broadcast to be filmed at Windsor Castle since the Queen's last notoriously difficult year of 1997, in the wake of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (although the 'bookends' of the 1999 production were filmed at St George's Chapel and the 2003 Broadcast came from Combermere Barracks in Windsor).  Was the plan always to film at Windsor, after eight consecutive productions from Buckingham Palace?  Or was it a late alteration to fit in with Her Majesty's schedule, as filming was delayed to take account of the general election result in the United Kingdom (the first December general election in the UK since 1932)?  It is interesting to speculate, but all that can be confidently stated is that this is the first Broadcast to be filmed in Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room.

Production reverted to the BBC for the first time since 2014 and the style is reassuringly traditional.  In fact, it is increasingly difficult to tell the different networks apart as the competitive drive for innovations and gimmickry in successive years seems to have become a thing of the past.  Her Majesty is seated behind a large desk, surrounded by flowers, family photographs and - inevitably - a Christmas tree.  In the Queen's opening scene, the camera pans around the desk before settling in a mid-shot position.  The camera slowly zooms in as the Queen says her closing words, but there is no extreme close-up.

Technical developments since the last time the Christmas Broadcast visited Windsor Castle resulted in the BBC having the opportunity to film the Castle in high definition digital. This is done with impressive effect, particularly the aerial shots at the start of the programme which give a rare glimpse of the roof of the Round Tower.

The music is provided by The Queen's Tri-Service Orchestra, who play God Save the Queen at the beginning of the programme and the carol It Came Upon A Midnight Clear at the end, sung by the Choir of St George's Chapel.  The closing shots feature charming footage of four generations of monarchs present and future - Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William and six-year old Prince George - stirring Christmas puddings in support of The Royal British Legion Christmas Pudding Stir, in scenes filmed in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace earlier in December.

Notes:  

The Queen is dressed in a blue cashmere dress with a sapphire brooch, which Dr James Anderson of the University of Reading claimed was a coded pro-European Union message, on the laughably tenuous basis that the brooch slightly resembles the EU flag and was a gift to Queen Victoria from her husband Albert - a European prince!  One can only hope that Dr Anderson composed his tweet with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

A publicity photo from the broadcast was released on Christmas Eve. Several UK tabloids noted the absence of a photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Her Majesty's desk, implying a possible snub to Harry and Meghan and their baby son Archie, born earlier in the year.  However, when the Message was broadcast the following day, the Queen said how she and Prince Philip had been 'delighted to welcome our eighth great grandchild into our family' as a photograph of the Queen and Duke with the Sussex family was shown on screen.

The Green Drawing Room of Windsor Castle was restored in the 1990s after having been severely damaged in the 1992 fire.  The room has strong associations with Prince Harry:  the reception following his Christening in 1984 was filmed here (with footage famously shown as part of the 1984 Christmas Broadcast).  The official wedding photographs of Prince Harry and his bride Meghan Markle were also taken here following the service at St George's Chapel in 2018.

Interestingly, the Queen modifies Neil Armstrong's famous words as he stepped onto the surface of the moon by referring to a 'giant leap for mankind - and, indeed, for womankind.'  In the early decades of her reign, Elizabeth II was quite content to use 'man' and 'mankind' as universal, all-embracing terms to describe the human race (the theme of her 1968 speech, for example, was 'the brotherhood of man').  Whether this subtle acknowledgement of changing times and attitudes was made at the Queen's own initiative or at the behest of her advisers is unclear.

Elizabeth II's reference to the attitude of younger generations towards climate change has been interpreted by some as a 'nod' towards environmental campaigners such as teenage activist Greta Thunberg.

In the United Kingdom's Christmas Day ratings, the Christmas Broadcast enjoyed a ratings 'bump' of 20 percent on the previous year (perhaps in no small part due to the prior publicity and speculation), with a combined audience of 7.85 million.  However, the Queen was knocked off the top spot for the first time since 2014, slipping into second place behind a Christmas special of the comedy Gavin and Stacey, which returned after a ten-year absence.

Full text here

The 1958 Broadcast

Location:  Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II uses one of her favourite themes in her Christmas Messages through the years; faith and family.  The Queen talks of the importance of both spiritual and family values as she explains the reasons why she has declined requests for her two young children to appear in the Broadcast and details the number of foreign trips which will be made by members of her family in the forthcoming year.  The Queen recognises the importance of scientific development, but also highlights the importance of spirituality in the history of mankind:  'prophets and dreamers, philosophers, men of ideas and poets, artists in paint, sculpture and music, the whole company who challenge and encourage or who entertain and give pleasure' as well as 'the teachers in Church, school and university, whose enormous job it is to awaken the minds of the younger generations and instil into them the essence of our accumulated civilisation.'

 

Commentary:

It would be tempting, though quite unfair, to consider the 1958 Broadcast as the 'poor relation';  subordinate to its much more famous and celebrated older 'sibling' from 1957.  In fact, this production has much going for it in its own right.  What was not known at the time was that this would prove to be the last Christmas Message to be shown live and the second of only two live television Broadcasts.

An editorial decision had evidently been made that each year's production should have its own individual identity.  Although the Broadcast is filmed in the Long Library, with all its associations with the twenty-six year history of the Royal Christmas Message, here we see the first concerted effort to turn the room into a 'set'.  The Queen is seated on a sofa, with a small table at the side of her where her speech is placed, to be referred to periodically as required.  Flowers are placed in the background on a table next to a writing desk, on which stand a smattering of Christmas cards.  The effect is that of a cosy sitting room, which is achieved with even better results than the year before:  Her Majesty is not relaxing in this room on Christmas Day, but it looks as though she is.  It is an illusion which would be re-created countless times down the years.

Elizabeth II's personal  appearance in the programme was also considered important.  Her Majesty is once again formally dressed in an evening gown and sporting a whopping four-strand pearl necklace.

This broadcast is probably best remembered for the touching explanation as to why the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh had not taken the risk of allowing their children Prince Charles, then ten, and Princess Anne, eight, to take part in the programme following numerous requests from members of the public for them to appear:  'We would like our son and daughter to grow up as normally as possible so that they will be able to serve you and the Commonwealth faithfully and well when they are old enough to do so. We believe that public life is not a fair burden to place on growing children. I'm sure that all of you who are parents will understand' Her Majesty says.  This would doubtless have been a relief to Prince Charles, whose leg was reportedly in plaster at the time following an accident at school!

Notes:

A technical problem with sound transmission resulted in millions of radio listeners missing the first eight words of the Message.  The television 'go ahead' had been given three seconds too early for sound.

The Queen's two younger children, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward (nether of whom were yet born in 1958) would appear some years later in the 1971 Broadcast.  By this time, Elizabeth II was a fully experienced mother and monarch.  There was also the 'safety net' of pre-recording.

As Elizabeth II lists a busy forthcoming year of travelling for a number of members of the extended Royal Family (many of them so long gone they will be unknown to modern audiences), she deploys a joke:  'We have no plans for space travel - at the moment.'

The Christmas Broadcast would not return to Sandringham for another thirty-four years, when it would be the base for a five-year stint between 1992 and 1996.  The Long Library would be seen in the 1993 and 1995 productions. 

 

Almost sixty years after the Broadcast was made a long-forgotten report re-emerged which told how an intrepid poodle named Sam had discovered a copy of the speech in King's Lynn market place, eight miles away from Sandringham, a few hours before the Queen was due to deliver her Message.  Sam was being walked by 20 year old John Harvey, the son of a local publican.  Harvey immediately recognised the significance of what had been found and handed in the document to a local police station.   The manuscript in fact belonged to Antony Craxton of the BBC production team and was annotated with vital producer's notes.  The speech was returned to Sandringham with all due speed; but there was an interval before it could be reunited with Craxton who, realising his briefcase was missing, had done a U-turn on his way to Sandringham back to King's Lynn (where he was staying) only to discover that the briefcase had already been handed in to the police!

Full text here

 

The 1959 Broadcast

Elizabeth II addresses the people of Canada on Dominion Day, 1959

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

With only weeks to go before giving birth to her third child, Elizabeth II records a short message conveying Christmas greetings to her listeners across the Commonwealth and thanking those who have sent good wishes following the news of her pregnancy.

Commentary:

At only around a minute's duration and a mere 127 words long, this is the shortest Christmas Broadcast of Elizabeth II's reign to date.  The 1959 message may well have been forgotten among the scores of annual broadcasts the Queen has made, yet it set an important precedent:  it was for the first time pre-recorded, and henceforth her Christmas broadcasts always would be.

 

As Christmas 1959 approached, Elizabeth II was heavily pregnant. The Queen saw the importance of the Christmas Day broadcast, which her father had made an annual ritual since the Second World War years.  However, the Queen was reluctant to undergo the strain of a live broadcast, and a live television broadcast in particular, only weeks away from giving birth (Prince Andrew, her third child,  would be born on 19th February,1960).  It was decided that a short speech would be recorded at Buckingham Palace on 17th December, allowing Elizabeth II and her family a stress-free Christmas at Sandringham.  As Ingrid Seward explains in The Queen's Speech (2015): 'Although it was not publicised how it was done, on a personal level it freed her from the anxieties that had marred her enjoyment of Christmas Day over the first eight years since her accession.'  The change made, Elizabeth II would never again broadcast live on Christmas Day.

The message is essentially an expression of good wishes, including the traditional Christmas sentiments of peace and goodwill.  It is interesting to note that in 1959 Elizabeth II felt it important to record a message, however brief; yet ten years later, in 1969, Her Majesty did not make a Christmas Broadcast at all.

Notes:

This was the second Royal Christmas Message to be recorded in advance.  In 1951, George VI had pre-recorded his speech in stages due to his declining health.  The King died on 6th February, 1952.

Elizabeth II did make a televised broadcast in 1959 - in July when she had addressed the Canadian people on Dominion Day (now Canada Day).

Full text here

The 1960 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II acknowledges a difficult year across the globe:   'Arguments and strained relations, as well as natural disasters, have all helped to produce an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty all over the world', Her Majesty says.  However, the Queen speaks positively about the special relationship between Commonwealth countries, specifically mentioning Nigeria, which had achieved independence in 1960 while remaining a Commonwealth member.  Elizabeth II also looks forward to the forthcoming visits she would make with the Duke of Edinburgh to several Commonwealth nations.

The Queen speaks of the importance of the contribution each individual can make in small ways to help improve the world and says she was 'delighted' by the number of messages and good wishes she received following the birth of her second son, Prince Andrew.

Commentary:

The precedent had been set with the brief, pre-recorded radio message the previous year.  After only two live television broadcasts from Sandringham - in 1957 and 1958 - from now on the annual Message would be pre-recorded.  The official explanation  seemed reasonable and was difficult to argue with:  tapes would be sent around the world in time for all Commonwealth countries to be able to broadcast at a convenient time on Christmas Day.  However, the real reason was that 1959 had proved more convenient for everyone - the BBC production team and the Queen and her family - who were able to enjoy Christmas Day at  home undisturbed.  

It had been a Palace decision and senior BBC managers were far from happy.  Peter Dimmock, then head of outside broadcasting at the BBC, many years later recalled his disappointment:  'Although I understood the reason for the change, I was disappointed it would no longer be transmitted live. For me, recording the message took so much away from it: the Queen speaking to everyone live on Christmas afternoon had a tremendous cachet. With a recording, you seemed to lose that.'  The loss of spontaneity was inevitable and the Queen's delivery is noticeably more leaden than in the first televised Broadcast just three years earlier.  Over the next few years, as ratings slipped and aware of Elizabeth II's anxieties about television, the BBC even informed the Palace that in the interests of spontaneity they would be happy to return to a sound only broadcast - provided it were live (Pimlott, The Queen, 1996).  However, the televised Broadcast - pre-recorded - would remain.

 

 

With pre-recording, the default home of the Christmas Broadcast had, at a stroke, moved from Sandringham to Buckingham Palace (it would remain there for twenty-two consecutive years).  The sumptuous White Drawing Room makes the first of many future appearances, but the grainy monochrome of 1960 hardly does it justice.  At the start of the production, shots of the rear of Buckingham Palace are shown as the booming voice of legendary BBC announcer John Snagge intones:  'This is London.  For this Christmas Day, 1960:  Her Majesty the Queen'.  Elizabeth II then appears seated beside a small table to the left of a roaring fire as the camera pans towards her, slowly zooming in as her speech progresses.  The Queen wears a formal/evening dress as she had done in the televised Sandringham Broadcasts (she would revert to 'daywear' by the middle of the decade).  One of Her Majesty's corgis, Sugar, sleeps at her side in the warmth of the fire.  The dog can be seen in the first few seconds of the Broadcast.

In future years, the advantages of pre-recording would allow many possibilities and opportunities, but this is a production filmed very much 'as live'.  It is all very basic:  no interspersed footage;  no Christmas tree (there would not be until 1987) and no Christmas cards (as seen in the two Sandringham productions).  Flower arrangements added a 'homely' look and would continue to be an integral part of the Christmas Broadcast 'set' as the years progressed.

Notes:

The Queen seems unusually gloomy as she reflects on a turbulent year for the world:  'By no stretch of the imagination can 1960 be described as a happy or successful year for mankind', she observes.  Such a pessimistic remark from Her Majesty would be considered surprising today.

The disasters to which The Queen alluded included an earthquake in Morocco which killed 12,000 people; the deaths of sixty-nine protesters in Sharpeville, South Africa; and an explosion in Six Bells Colliery in Monmouthshire in which forty-five miners died.

Elizabeth II refers to the birth of her second son, Prince Andrew, in February, but makes no mention of the marriage of her sister,  Princess Margaret, to society photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones in May.

The fact that all the countries of the Commonwealth were now able to see or hear the Queen on Christmas Day itself resulted in Elizabeth II's messages becoming much more Commonwealth orientated.  In 1957 the Queen referred to 'this country [the United Kingdom] and Commonwealth'.  From now on, Her Majesty would address the Commonwealth as a whole.

John Snagge (1904-1996) is perhaps best remembered for his BBC news bulletins during the Second World War, in particular breaking the news of the D-Day landings in June 1944.  Snagge also famously announced the birth of Prince Charles in 1948 and the death of King George VI in 1952.

 

A few days before Christmas, Peter Dimmock gave a polite but slightly mischievous interview to a journalist in a Sidney hotel, hastily conducted as he prepared to fly back to London after checking arrangements for the British Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games) scheduled to be held in Perth in 1962.  Dimmock told the reporter that the Message had been recorded in 'a back room at Buckingham Palace' (the White Drawing Room is actually the most grand of the state rooms!).  When asked whether the young Prince Charles and Princess Anne would be appearing in the Broadcast, Dimmock teased with an evasive answer, insisting that he was not allowed to talk about it.  Of course, Dimmock knew that the programme had been recorded a few days earlier and the Royal children had taken no part in it.

Trivia:

Elizabeth II would wear the True Lover's Knot Brooch, once owned by Queen Mary, again just two years later in the 1962 Broadcast.

Full text here

The 2018 Broadcast

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.

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The 1961 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II references the Christmas story, linking the birth of Jesus with the importance of faith and what it can achieve.  Her Majesty also discusses her travels during the year, mentioning her visits to Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia.  The Queen ends with a message of hope to the younger generation, encouraging them to use their energies positively: 'It is natural that the younger generation should lose patience with their elders, for their seeming failure to bring some order and security to the world. But things will not get any better if young people merely express themselves by indifference or by revulsion against what they regard as an out-of-date order of things.'

Commentary:

1961 marked the second pre-recorded Christmas broadcast and by this time many viewers would have cottoned on to the fact that Her Majesty was no longer speaking live.  The prospect of declining audiences loomed as a problem for producers, and although the Queen herself, in the prime of life, looks stunning in a splendid evening gown complete with enormous shoulder bow, everything else about this production seems wrong.

 

The state rooms of Buckingham Palace look magnificent when seen in person, but they simply did not transfer themselves well to the grainy television technology of the day.  Filmed in the 1844 Room, the 'effect' seems even more austere than the previous year.  Worse, the Queen is seated behind an enormous desk, inviting a visual cliché that would inspire many a satirical spoof down the years.  Elizabeth II was in danger of appearing the very detached, remote figure that she had been keen to avoid in her first televised Christmas message from Sandringham four years earlier;  the viewer had been transported from the live, cosy intimacy of Sandringham to a pre-canned speech from a huge room in Buckingham Palace.  The 1844 Room would not be seen again in a Christmas Broadcast until 2007, by which time viewers could enjoy the colourful grandeur of Buckingham Palace in high definition wide screen;  it would be returned to in 2011 and 2017.

As the decade of protest movements ground into gear, Elizabeth II's subtle warning to the younger generation is interesting.  1961 was a long way from 1968, but it is clear that the Monarch had detected a growing undercurrent of unrest.  The implication is that Elizabeth II is no hippie!

Notes:

The line ""Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing" that the Queen quotes is from the carol It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, written in 1849 by American poet Edmund Sears with accompanying tune by Richard Storrs Willis.

Trivia:

This is one of very few Broadcasts in which Elizabeth II does not wear a brooch.

 

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