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.

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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.

 

 Full text here

The 1962 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:  

The Queen blends the theme of the Christmas story with technological development as she links the launch of the Telster communications satellite, which for the first time allowed near-instantaneous transmission of news images all around the world, with the story of the Wise Men following the Star of Bethlehem.  'Following a star', Her Majesty argues, can have many meanings besides venturing into space: 'The wise men of old followed a star: modern man has built one. But unless the message of this new star is the same as theirs our wisdom will count for nought. Now we can all say the world is my neighbour and it is only in serving one another that we can reach for the stars.'

Commentary:  

Although not stated in the Queen's text, the Christmas Broadcast has always reflected advances in technology and 1962 marked thirty years since King George V throatily imparted his festive greetings to the Empire from behind his desk at Sandringham - an event which itself had been intended to promote the new medium of radio.  This year also marked ten years since Elizabeth II's own first Christmas message;  in 1952 the young Queen had broadcast live over the wireless from Sandringham just as her grandfather had done.

By 1962, the Christmas Broadcast was televised and pre-recorded and producers had a problem. As Ben Pimlott states in The Queen, viewing figures were slipping alarmingly and criticisms were being made that the annual Message had become bland.  The issue was compounded by the Queen's notoriously wooden camera style.  One BBC official observed:  'We can never rely on the Queen doing a much better performance than this Christmas.  The text is however all important and needs to be less stilted and more human if the Queen is to continue to command full attention as the years roll by.'  The British prime minister tried and failed to persuade the monarch to change the 'style and content' of the annual address, while the BBC, who had fought so hard for a televised message told 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).  Although the BBC had not hidden the fact that the speech was now pre-recorded, it wasn't exactly publicised, either.  Audiences were beginning to catch on that the Message was no longer live and that the lack of spontaneity was perhaps affecting Elizabeth II's performance.  This would continue to be a problem for years to come.

1962 marked the first appearance in a Christmas Message of Buckingham Palace's Regency Room.  This was perhaps an attempt by producers to soften the look and feel of the broadcast after the use of state rooms in 1960 and 1961 had made that Palace look rather cold and stark in black and white.  The Regency Room would not be seen again until 1971, when it would begin its long period of dominance as the 'default location' of the Broadcast which would endure until 1991.  Seated on a sofa, the aim appears to be to try to replicate the more relaxed Elizabeth II of the 1958 Broadcast from Sandringham.

Notes:

Elizabeth II would continue to return to the theme of advances in technology over the years.  Being hailed as an example of technological progress is, after all, how the Royal Christmas Message was born back in 1932 and the Broadcast has often been at the forefront of new developments in television technology.

The sofa used here is more formal and regal than the Regency Room sofa that was seen on occasion in subsequent years.

Elizabeth II wears the distinctive True Lover's Knot Brooch, once owned by Queen Mary.

Full text here

The 1963 Broadcast

Elizabeth II and her family;  December 1963

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II, who was expecting her fourth child, delivers a radio message in which she makes a general reference to major world events during the year which ' are already part of the long record of history.'  The Queen remembers the 'undernourished' across the world and applauds the Commonwealth for their generous efforts in 'the campaign to free the world from hunger'.

Commentary:

For the second time since 1957, Elizabeth II reverts to a radio broadcast due to pregnancy.  This time the Queen gives a longer speech than she had done in 1959, although it is still noticeably more brief than her typical annual Messages.

In keeping with my practise of working backwards in time to review historical Broadcasts, I will point out that this is the first occasion that I have been faced with the situation of commenting on a 'sound only' Message.  Obviously I cannot make many of my usual observations regarding production values, but it is possible to compare the Queen's broadcasting style ten years on from her Coronation with that of the start of her reign.  It is interesting to note that Her Majesty's delivery had already changed considerably from her first Christmas message in 1952.  Eleven years earlier, the new Queen had adopted the exaggerated enunciation typical of the earliest days of broadcasting;  her youth and inexperience was also evident as she addressed her millions of peoples across the Commonwealth.  After more than a decade on the throne, the Queen's speaking style was now more confident, brisk, businesslike and more natural-sounding.  Elizabeth II's received pronunciation by 1963 could be said to be more characteristic of her own generation rather than that of her parents or even grandparents.

Notes:

A few weeks before Elizabeth II recorded her Christmas message, the world had been shaken by one of the most dramatic events of the post-War era; the assassination of US president John F Kennedy.  Some may find it surprising that Elizabeth II does not refer directly to the event in her speech.  As I have stated in earlier posts, it has never been Elizabeth II's habit to discuss party politics and individual politicians in her Christmas messages;  for instance, the comings and goings of her many British and Commonwealth prime ministers over the years have always gone un-noted.  The Queen prefers to use her Christmas address as an opportunity to praise 'unsung heroes' and highlight the unifying qualities of humanity.  That Elizabeth II did not mention Kennedy's assassination does not mean that she was not moved by the event, merely that she considered that the Christmas message was not the time and place to discuss it.  In fact, Her Majesty did go on to pay fulsome tribute to the late president at the dedication of the John F Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede in May 1965.

Elizabeth II's fourth child, Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis, was born on 10th March 1964.


Full text here

The 1964 Broadcast

Location:  Buckingham Palace

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

Elizabeth II discusses the Commonwealth, its problems and its aspirations.  The Queen reflects on her meetings with Commonwealth prime ministers and argues that 'the thread which runs through our Commonwealth is love of freedom'; a freedom which has its framework in inherited traditions and institutions and is maintained by 'a thousand invisible forces, self-discipline, the Common Law, the right of citizens to assemble, and to speak and argue.'  The Queen ends with an impassioned call to the young people of the Commonwealth, in whom the future of the world rests: 'You have brains and courage, imagination and humanity; direct them to the things that have to be achieved in this century, if mankind is to live together in happiness and prosperity.'

Commentary:

The return to a televised broadcast after the break the previous year meant a dilemma for producers;  there was the alarming, not to say embarrassing problem of the drop in ratings for the 1962 Broadcast to contend with.  Part of the problem was obvious;  the loss of spontaneity which came with pre-recording.  It wasn't that Elizabeth II's subjects didn't love their Queen, but there was perhaps a public perception that, if Her Majesty's speech had already been said and 'canned', then if she had said anything particularly of note it would already have been known, or at least the main points could be caught up with on news bulletins.

Then there was the problem of the location.  The grand state rooms of Buckingham Palace may look impressive 'in the flesh', but they certainly didn't lend themselves well to an age of monochrome television.  In fact, they looked quite dark and imposing;  this was particularly evident in the Broadcasts of 1960 and 1961.  It was a stark contrast from the cosy intimacy of Sandringham.  In her first televised Christmas message in 1957, Her Majesty had said that it was 'inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you'.  The danger now was, with her notoriously camera-conscious style an added complication, Elizabeth II was looking more 'remote' than ever:  perilously close, perhaps, to coming across like an 'ice queen' speaking from her draughty Palace.

A solution had to be found to try to make the Queen appear more relaxed and accessible to her people.  Disappointing it  may have been to some at the BBC, but there was no question of returning to a 'live' broadcast.  Also, if the Queen could ever be persuaded to speak from the comfort of her own private sitting room, it certainly wasn't in 1964.  A compromise was needed and the Bow Room 'set' was born.

Ironically, the Bow Room is one of the most public rooms in Buckingham Palace; certainly it was so in the days before the state rooms of the Palace were opened to paying visitors. During the summer months, thousands of guests invited to the royal garden parties pass through its huge doors to reach the Terrace and it is anything but a quiet, cosy sitting room.  The room is, however, an ideal location for a television or film 'set' because of its size.  It allows for a camera crew and technicians, as well as plenty of space to create a suitable 'arrangement'.

The whole effect may be entirely contrived, but it works.  The sofas in the background, as the Queen speaks from alongside a small table, allow for a homely look which had been missing since the Sandringham broadcasts.  This is balanced by the impressive, gold-edged doors in the background;  a reminder that this is the Queen speaking from her Palace. Also, from now Elizabeth II would be dressed in 'daywear' - smart, unfussy, comfortable;  the formal dresses and evening gowns of earlier productions were gone.  The production team were evidently pleased by the changes because the Bow Room 'set' would remain for the next five years, although with a few modifications (especially as the age of colour arrived in 1967).

Notes:

Of particular interest in this Broadcast is the elegant nature of the Queen's prose, which verges at times on the poetic.  A case in point is Her Majesty's dreamy opening image:  'As I begin my Christmas Broadcast to you, the people of Great Britain and of the other Commonwealth countries, my mind travels far away, and for one moment I seem to be with you in many countries, which are now almost as familiar as my own native land'.  Later she adds reflectively (with perhaps a little help from her sailor husband!), 'all of us who have been blessed with young families know from long experience that when one's house is at its noisiest, there is often less cause for anxiety. The creaking of a ship in a heavy sea is music in the ears of the captain on the bridge.'

In her Message, Elizabeth II does not refer explicitly to the birth of Prince Edward during 1964, as she had done when Prince Andrew was born in 1960.  Prince Edward would receive more attention in the following Broadcast.

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