From the 1970s onwards it became customary to release at least one publicity photograph of Queen Elizabeth II (sometimes several) to mark each year's Broadcast, rather than only for the most significant years, which had previously been the case. Invariably in these images Her Majesty would be wearing her familiar smile and, in the years after 1990 when she wore spectacles to read her speeches, the Queen would often remove them for the posed photograph.
This practice continued for many years until suddenly, from 2007, Elizabeth II's expressions in the Broadcast's publicity pictures started to take on a more serious tone. The reason for this is far from clear and cannot simply be attributed to changes of photographers who had differing approaches. From the mid 1990s onwards the principle accredited photographers for the Christmas Broadcast were John Stillwell and Fiona Hanson (occasionally Steve Parsons stepped in), both of whom initially photographed the Queen smiling but in later years looking more sombre.
Looking more serious in 2007
Whatever the reason, anyone who studies the publicity photographs from before 2007 and compares them with those afterwards can observe that Elizabeth II smiles a lot less. Occasionally, a secondary photograph was released showing Her Majesty smiling in an apparently unguarded moment, but not looking at the camera (see 2008, 2009 and 2017), but the posed, primary photographs generally depict the Queen with a more neutral expression.
The 2022 BBC documentary When the Queen Spoke To the Nation features behind the scenes footage from the 2020 Christmas Broadcast. In the clip, Victoria Jones (who photographed the Queen for her final two Messages) almost literally dives into the set to get her shots the second the cameras stop rolling. There was certainly no 'say cheese!' moment. Could it have been, therefore, that in an age of serious news stories where Queen Elizabeth was increasingly called upon to refer to natural disasters, terrorist atrocities, wars and economic difficulties, there was a conscious attempt to make the Queen look more as she did while she was delivering her speeches, rather than have smiling portraits that did not always fit the reporting?
Queen Elizabeth II had been wearing spectacles for reading for several years when she delivered her Christmas message with the aid of glasses for the first time in 1991, suggestive of a weak corrective prescription for distance vision. This began a run of twenty-six broadcasts featuring a bespectacled Queen. For many of these, Her Majesty wore Silhouette 1899 eyeglasses, something of a 'trademark' in her later years. However, between 2008 and 2016 (with the single exception of 2010), Elizabeth II chose to wear more stylish, rimless designer frames by the Danish brand Lindberg to read her annual speech. The late Queen tended to reserve this pair, which she had begun to wear late in the first decade of the century, for special occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament and state banquets.
2017 Broadcast: "...now you don't"
In 2017, something strange happened. For the first time in more than a quarter of a century, Queen Elizabeth II delivered her festive address without her customary eyewear! As far as the Christmas Broadcast was concerned, Her Majesty would not call upon her trusty specs again for the remainder of her reign.
Surprisingly, the media did not appear to pick up on this intriguing piece of trivia. It is, after all, not unusual for people to begin using glasses, but it is far less common to stop needing them! One possible explanation is that Queen Elizabeth either underwent laser eye surgery or started to use contact lenses, neither of which would have been consistent with Her Majesty's known lack of vanity. Another possibility is that teleprompters were, by 2017, able to be adapted for lens prescriptions, although a little ad hoc research suggests that this is not technologically possible.
Perhaps the reality was something that I have been told by more than one optician over the years. Sometimes, as people become increasingly long-sighted and dependent on spectacles for close work, distance vision actually improves in later life, so it is plausible that the reason the late Queen stopped using her glasses for the Christmas Broadcast was simply because she no longer required them. We will probably never know for sure.
Note: This remains a blog dedicated to the Christmas messages of Queen Elizabeth II. I do not intend to cover the speeches of Charles III in the same way, although I aim to continue to write a commentary of sorts on each of the King's festive broadcasts.
As the King reached the milestone of his second Christmas Broadcast, there remained a certain novelty value surrounding the relatively new reign. When, on 23rd December, a photograph of His Majesty recording the speech was released, some press referred to the 'eco-activist' monarch preparing to deliver a 'powerful message about the environment' and similar speculation. The presence of a 'living' Christmas tree with its roots intact (enabling it to be re-planted), complete with environmentally-friendly decorations, was noted. It was also reported before Christmas that Charles III had written the speech himself, without the help of advisors, since the King evidently feels he performs better when speaking 'off the cuff'.
In the event, King Charles did indeed dedicate a portion of his Message to the importance of 'caring for the Earth' (having linked the Christmas story to God, God to creation and creation to the natural world), but His Majesty is not exactly banging the drum for Net Zero here, as some media may have led one to expect. The King's message is predominantly Christian in tone, but he speaks more of other religions in this Broadcast than he had done in 2022, once again making use of the increasingly hackneyed phrase 'all faiths and none'. Nevertheless, at least one commentator claimed that Charles III's annual messages are proving to be more robustly Christian than his late mother 'had dared' to be in her festive addresses.
Elsewhere in the Broadcast, there are references to the Coronation, which His Majesty links to the importance of 'service' and those who provide it, citing the work of volunteers as 'an essential backbone of our society'; a constantly recurring theme in the annual messages of the late Queen Elizabeth.
With regard to whether the King wrote the speech himself without advice, it is important to remember that the final text of the speech must always be signed off by ministers. There seems little which, in principle, might not have been the subject of one of Elizabeth II's speeches, although the wording may have been adapted to Charles III's particular style of oratory.
Of interest to this blogger is that this is the first time the Royal Christmas Message has been recorded at Buckingham Palace since 2018. Much has happened since then, not least the change of reign. The Centre Room, seen here, had never before been used as the setting for a Christmas Broadcast. It is difficult to know, from what little we see of it, how well the East Wing renovations of Buckingham Palace are progressing (they were clearly far from complete in May 2023, as can be seen in the BBC documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year), since the production is shot rather basically using only one wide-angle with a closer-in view as the Broadcast progresses. More is made of the external shots of the Palace, with Guardsmen from the Household Division Symphonic Brass playing God Save the King on the rarely-seen balcony of the Courtyard side of the East Wing as the camera pans out to show The Mall and London behind it.
The Broadcast is produced by ITN, as it should have been in 2022. No reason for the change was given then, when production inexplicably reverted to the BBC, nor, apparently, for the return to ITN in 2023. Daylight is very evident in this production, which is unusual in recent decades where the visual emphasis has tended to be on softly-lit 'Christmassy' twilight. There is the usual interspersed footage of the Royal Family at work including this year, of course, from the Coronation. With a nod to informality, the end carol, While Shepherds Watched, is sung by the Bexley Music Primary Choir. As a production, it is very much traditional; perhaps in some ways almost a throwback to the first half of the 1980s given the simplicity of the camera angles and complete lack of gimmickry.
The most notable thing about Buckingham Palace's Centre Room is the view of the Victoria Memorial looking out onto The Mall: this is the room that the Royal Family emerge from when they make their famous balcony appearances. It was evidently an imposing-looking, somewhat Germanic sitting room in Queen Victoria's reign before being remodeled in Oriental style by Queen Mary in the 1920s. Today it appears to contain a long table and may possibly be used as a conference room. Presumably this location was chosen for the 2023 Broadcast because it was the room from which the King and Queen appeared for the iconic balcony scenes following the Coronation ceremony and procession.
A few eagle-eyed commentators noticed, as I did, that the King appears to be wearing exactly the same cobalt blue suit as he did in the previous Broadcast (although Queen Elizabeth II usually wore outfits in her Christmas broadcasts that she had worn on previous occasions, Her Late Majesty never dressed the same way in any of her Christmas Messages). This was presumably a deliberate choice, with Charles III wishing to idenfify himself as a monarch supportive of recycling and thrift.
There were a great many column inches spent speculating over how the King's first Christmas Broadcast would look, what he would say, and how his address would compare with the many Christmas messages delivered by the late Queen. Even more column inches were spent commenting on the programme after it was broadcast. Similarly, the television airwaves were filled with 'experts' fascinated by the prospect of the first television Christmas Message to be delivered by a male monarch.
It is impossible to go into all of these; suffice to say that there were those who thought His Majesty would continue with a conventional style, while others thought he would try something groundbreaking and new, to signal a generational break from his mother.
It was quite fun to see so many commentators attempt to argue that the visual and production sides of the broadcast were somehow revolutionary. On Boxing Day morning, I watched an interviewee say that it was noteworthy that King Charles had delivered his message from 'a Church' rather than a a grand state room and that this may signal His Majesty's intention to do 'on location' Broadcasts. Actually, Queen Elizabeth had wrapped up her 1999 speech from almost the same spot and recorded a number of 'on location' Broadcasts (particularly in the first decade of the Millennium), including from several churches and chapels. Some seemed amazed that the King delivered his speech standing up. True, he was, but Queen Elizabeth spoke from a standing position for the first time in 1975, did so on several occasions during the 1980s and later for ten consecutive Christmases from 2003 to 2012 (and who could forget the "stand up, sit down, keep moving" gimmickry that producers subjected Her Majesty to in the 2000 and 2001 Broadcasts?)! It was only in the last decade of her life, by which time she was in her late eighties, that Elizabeth II chose to speak from the more comfortable seated position of earlier years. Even more trivial, was the King's choice of blue suit and cheerful tie really so significant?
There had also been speculation that the Christmas Broadcasts of King Charles III would be more secular, interfaith-orientated and less Christian in tone than his mother's. On the contrary, the King's first Message is robustly Christian, talking much about his own faith while also referencing other religions as Elizabeth II had done for many years.
Essentially, what we have in the 2022 Broadcast is a largely traditional product, which has enough 'wriggle room' to allow something less conventional as King Charles' Christmas Broadcasts progress. Windsor is a 'safe' venue - a royal residence - yet the setting of St. George's Chapel had only been used once before and allows scope for future innovative developments: this coming Christmas may see the King speak from one of the familiar State Rooms of Buckingham Palace; equally, His Majesty could be on location somewhere in the North of England (or even further afield). St. George's Chapel made sense for the 2022 Message: it is consistent with the tradition of the Broadcasts and is also the place where Queen Elizabeth had so recently been laid to rest with her husband Prince Philip. The choice of the carol O Little Town Of Bethlehem is also significant, because it was the backdrop for the end of Queen Elizabeth's final Message in 2021 - the first time that the same carol has been used in 'back-to-back' Broadcasts: here is a clear signal of continuity. My own instinct is that the production will proceed cautiously, at least for the first few years.
If we want to look for more tangible differences between the Christmas Broadcasts of Queen Elizabeth II and the first annual Message of King Charles III, we can study their respective styles of speech and use of language. Queen Elizabeth was somewhat averse to the use of superlatives; King Charles is not. It is difficult to imagine , for example, Elizabeth II using phrases such as 'I cannot thank you enough' and 'with all my heart' as His Majesty did in 2022. However, given the circumstances, it was an understandably emotional Broadcast.
As December comes around once more, there is not long to wait to see whether the 2023 Broadcast will be produced in a similar vein to the 2022 address.
At the time of writing, the precise cause of the death of Queen Elizabeth has not been officially released, although it has been speculated that she was suffering from a form of bone marrow cancer. Did Her Majesty have any indication that the 2021 Christmas Message, which was recorded two months after the first signs that her health was failing, would be her last? It is true that the Queen alluded to 'passing the baton' from one generation to the next, but her two written Platinum Jubilee messages seemed to indicate that she considered that she would be around for a while to come.
If Queen Elizabeth II had lived to deliver her Platinum Jubilee year Christmas Broadcast, it is likely that her message would have had a similar tone to the previous Jubilee year messages of 1977, 2002 and 2012. Her Majesty would no doubt have thanked the many who marked the Jubilee year in some way - especially during the main celebrations in June - for their loyalty and support. There would probably have been extensive use of montage footage of those celebrations interspersed with the Queen's words (at one time, these images would perhaps have been shown during the rendition of God Save the Queen, but in recent years there has been more of an emphasis on the musicians that perform it). Elizabeth II may have alluded to her own health difficulties (though not in a major way), which had reduced her participation in the main Jubilee events, and very likely acknowledged the economic and social difficulties affecting millions in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth.
King George V at the microphone; 1930s.
Christmas Day also marked ninety years to the day since the late Queen's grandfather, King George V, delivered the very first Christmas Broadcast to Britain and the Empire. Elizabeth II was one of very few people left alive who may have remembered that momentous occasion first-hand, and with her keen sense of history, continuity and the importance of anniversaries may well have referred to this other significant milestone; perhaps within the context some sort of reflection on finding comfort in the continuation of the familiar and the importance of community spirit in troubled times.
Sadly, to speculate is academic, as events intervened last September. The 2022 Broadcast turned out to be a very different speech from the new King Charles III (which I will look at in my next post). The King chose to speak of Elizabeth II in personal terms, as a mother rather than as Queen, and the unique event of the Platinum Jubilee - which would have been the central event of the royal year - was not mentioned at all.
The King delivering his first television broadcast as monarch; 9th September, 2022.
In recent days it has been reported that, rather than being produced by ITV as planned, the first Christmas Broadcast of the reign of King Charles III has actually been produced by the BBC (the programme was evidently recorded on Tuesday 13th December). If true, this would be quite surprising.
The existing two-year rotational system was first devised in the mid-1990s, alternating between the BBC and ITV, later incorporating Sky News from 2011 onwards. The purpose was officially to add 'fresh blood' to the Broadcasts, but was in no small measure motivated by a desire to punish the BBC over the notoriousPanorama interview between Martin Bashir and Diana, Princess of Wales (which was itself motivated by an intention to embarrass the then Prince of Wales), which the Palace considered it had been treated discourteously over.
ITN had produced what turned out to be Queen Elizabeth II's final Christmas Message in 2021. Planning for the 2022 Broadcast would presumably have been well underway by the time of the Queen's death in September, since each producing network considers its back-to-back programmes as a two-year project. The BBC, which had been responsible for the 2019 and 2020 Broadcasts, had not been expected to resume production until 2025. I can see no obvious reason why the Palace should wish to 'punish' ITV: the network has generally 'kept its nose clean' in its associations with the Royal family and I have written many times over the years in my blog posts that the ITN Christmas Broadcasts have been as good as those produced by the BBC - and sometimes better.
Perhaps the most plausible possible explanation is that the existing rota agreement was always intended to expire at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, with production reverting to the BBC until new arrangements are made for the reign of King Charles. However, it is odd that there had been no comment from Buckingham Palace, ITV or the BBC to clarify the situation.
Queen Elizabeth II's ITN-produced final Christmas Broadcast; 2021.
As we reflect upon the incalculable loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, one of the many things we are sorrowful about is that we will never again hear her reassuring, familiar tones in the Royal Christmas Message, which most of us knew simply (if erroneously) as 'the Queen's speech'. For many who would not consider themselves regular 'royal watchers' throughout the year, this was the moment when they gave Elizabeth II their attention. For millions, the late Queen was as much a part of Christmas Day as crackers and presents. Although Her Majesty had, for the first time, been displaying more worrying signs of frailty at the end of last year; I, for one, could never have envisaged that the 2021 Broadcast would be her last.
In her record-breaking reign, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a staggering sixty-nine Christmas broadcasts (1969 being - famously - the only exception), of which sixty-two were televised. If ever we attempt to understand the personality of this most remarkable of monarchs, the Queen's annual festive message to the peoples of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth is the best place to look. We see a woman of extraordinary goodness and optimism: modest, compassionate and understanding of those who are often less appreciated than they should be. A woman of profound Christian faith who accepted her role as destiny ordained and kept her promise to serve for life.
Sadly, I will never again feel that 'buzz' in the autumn when I realise that planning will already be underway for the Queen's next Christmas message, culminating in scouring the Internet late on Christmas Eve night, looking for the first evidence somewhere in the world of the official publicity photograph, revealing what colour Her Majesty is wearing, which residence and room the Broadcast is filmed in and what the 'set' looks like. Although His Majesty King Charles III will certainly maintain the tradition of the annual Broadcast, the Christmas Day 2022 message will seem very different without the 'presenter' (as Queen Elizabeth described herself in the 2017 Broadcast) of the past seventy years. May Her Late Majesty rest in peace.
