The Jubilee Year Message that was not to be

 

Golden Jubilee Year Christmas Message, 2002.

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's first Christmas Broadcast: Were ITV 'snubbed'?

 

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 notorious Panorama 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.

Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022

 

Christmas Broadcast, 1976.

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.

Chistmas Broadcast, 1982.

The 2021 Broadcast

 

Victoria Jones/Getty images

Location:  Windsor Castle

Produced by:  ITN

Theme:

In a highly personal Message, Queen Elizabeth II pays tribute to her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had died the previous April.  Her Majesty acknowledges that this year she particularly understands how difficult it is at Christmas for those who have lost loved ones and how she has drawn comfort from the public response to Prince Philip's death.  The Queen praises the Duke's service and humour and speaks of how the royal family will miss his 'mischievous twinkle', yet concedes: 'But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings; and as much as I and my family miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas.'  Elizabeth II says that the family will find 'joy' in Christmas even 'with one familiar laugh missing this year'.

More positively, the Queen looks ahead to her upcoming Platinum Jubilee year and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as reflecting on the 'wonder' of the Christmas story through the eyes of young children.

Commentary:

2021 was a dreadful year for Elizabeth II.  The death of her beloved husband of seventy-three years;  ongoing negative publicity surrounding the Dukes of York and Sussex;  her numerous reported health problems after so many healthy years - a back problem at Balmoral forcing her to give up riding;  cutting back on alcohol for health reasons; being seen using a walking stick in public 'for comfort' on two occasions  for the first time since her knee operations of the early 2000s; being ordered to rest by doctors for several weeks following a brief hospitalisation for an undisclosed ailment; then being forced to miss her Remembrance Sunday appearance at the Cenotaph in November due to a back injury - and at the end of all that, Her Majesty felt compelled to cancel her planned family Christmas at Sandringham because of ongoing uncertainty and chaos due to the British Government's approach towards Covid restrictions and the Omicron variant spreading in the UK.

However, the Queen does not dwell on her other problems and it is the late Duke of Edinburgh who takes centre stage in one of Her Majesty's most poignant Christmas Messages to date.  There might be a slight air of fragility around an Elizabeth II who is now the last remaining senior royal of her generation, but the Queen appears reassuringly well and largely unchanged from the previous year's Broadcast.   Seldom have we seen Her Majesty use such personal phrases as 'my beloved Philip' or 'that mischievous, enquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him.'  Her Majesty seems to speak in even more emotional terms than in her 2002 speech - the year her mother and sister died just month before her Golden Jubilee commemorations were due to start.  Indeed, the Monarch's personal tone was much commented on in the press.

In addition to the affectionate tributes in the text of the message, the Duke of Edinburgh also has a visible presence in the Broadcast.  Dressed in festive red for the first time in a decade, the Queen also wears her Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch which has many associations with her husband.  Her Majesty famously wore it on her honeymoon pictures in 1947, at the christening of her second child Princess Anne and numerous other occasions in Prince Philip's presence.  Elizabeth II also wears the brooch in the photograph at her side, where she is pictured with the Duke of Edinburgh in 2007 in a photograph (a re-creation of the honeymoon pictures) taken by Fiona Hanson to mark their Diamond Wedding.

The production rota reverted to ITN, who produced their first Christmas Broadcast since 2016.  The Queen speaks from the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle (last used as the location of a Christmas Broadcast in 1997). The 'set' is rather more luxurious than the previous year's pared-down 'lockdown' Message; with more flowers and decorations, better lighting and Her Majesty appears to have had her usual Christmas Broadcast professional 'makeover' (which she does not seem to have had in 2020).  However, there are no 'roaming' camera angles and the Queen is only shown in two shots - wide-angle and close-up.  

 The programme begins with The Central Band of the Royal British Legion playing God Save the Queen in the grounds of Windsor Castle.  A wide-angle shot of the rear of the Castle is shown before a montage of footage and photographs of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh is seen, with a voice-over of Elizabeth II praising her husband at their Golden Wedding celebrations in 1997.  The last of these is a close-up of Fiona Hanson's Diamond Wedding photograph at the side of the Queen, before Her Majesty begins her 2021 speech.  The message is interspersed with the customary relevant footage; this year relating to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, senior members of the Royal Family (including a brief clip from the Christmas segment of the 1969 Royal Family documentary) and the Commonwealth Games.  As the Queen ends, she quotes a line from the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem to lead into the carol itself being sung inside Windsor Castle's St. George's Hall by the Singology Community Choir.  The closing shot is an impressive view of the rear and gardens of the Castle with bright sunshine behind.

Queen Elizabeth II's 'Cop 26' Message, Windsor Castle, November 2021

  

Notes:

This is the third consecutive Christmas Broadcast to be filmed at Windsor and the sixth consecutive speech to camera by Elizabeth II to be recorded at the Castle.  The Green Drawing Room was used for the previous two Christmas Messages, while the White Drawing Room was used for the three non-Christmas recordings made since April 2020.

There seems to be a 'nod' here to the 1997 Broadcast, twenty-four years earlier.  1997 was the year ITN first produced the Message and was the year the restoration of St. George's Hall was completed following the 1992 fire.  Both the White Drawing Room and St George's Hall were seen in the 1997 Broadcast, as they are here.

This is Queen Elizabeth II's seventieth Christmas Message (including the written Message of 1969) and her sixty-ninth Christmas Broadcast (including seven 'sound only' Broadcasts).

This was Elizabeth II's second 'speech to camera' of 2021.  A video message was shown to the assembled world leaders and dignitaries gathered at the 'COP 26' climate summit in Glasgow, as the Queen was forced to cancel her personal appearance following medical advice.  This message was also recorded in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle, though the arrangement of the room is very different.

Instead of the usual selection of ornate antique chairs Her Majesty usually uses for her Christmas Messages, the Queen is seen here seated in a more modern, more comfortable-looking chair.  It appears to be the same chair and cushion used by the Queen in the 'Cop 26' message the previous month (though the cushion's presence is more discrete in the Christmas Broadcast).  The change could be due to the Queen's reported back problems, cited earlier.

In the 2021 Broadcast, Elizabeth II wears her brooch on her right, rather than her left, which she usually does.  A change of this nature is normally only made by the Queen when the design of an outfit requires it, but that is evidently not the case here.  This detail was also noted by The Court Jeweller.  I agree with this blogger that the change is probably to do with the 'framing' of the image - to bring the brooch closer to the photograph where the Queen also wears the Sapphire Chrysanthemum - rather than because of some hidden meaning.  Elizabeth II has only worn a brooch on her right in two previous Messages:  1967 and 1993.

Queen Elizabeth II once again topped the Christmas Day ratings in the United Kingdom with combined viewing figures of 9.1 million.  This is considerably up on the 8.4 million who tuned in the previous year.  Many would have been interested to hear what Her Majesty had to say about the death of her husband, while others would have been curious to see how she appeared following her reported health issues in the autumn.

The Christmas tree in the background is decorated with over one hundred gold and white stars, specially made by children and staff of the Royal School, Windsor.

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Channel 4 wants to 'air' the Christmas Broadcast. Really?

 

Well, well, well, now there's a turn up.  According to reports Channel 4, that most Left-leaning and near-subversive of British television networks, is keen to 'air' the Queen's Christmas speech.  Following the Royal Family's well-publicised fall-out with the BBC over its recent documentary The Princes and the Press, relations between the Palace and the publicly funded broadcaster - which have never been quite the same since the infamous Martin Bashir interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995 - are at an all-time low and, according to an insider, Channel 4 have spotted an opportunity to produce the annual Message: ' they've made it clear they would like to film the speech this year — especially if the Royals punish the Beeb and withdraw their rights, although that does seem unlikely. But the Royal family have shown they have backbone and won’t stand for much more nonsense.'  Apparently Channel 4 'would definitely love to show the Queen’s speech this year should the BBC be punished again.'

 Channel 4's interest seems, to say the least, unlikely.  There appears to have been no evident reason in the past why the network would not have been granted permission to air the Broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day in line with other main and news channels if it had requested to do so.  Instead, Channel 4 has since 1993 courted controversy by airing its own 'alternative' message to rival the Queen on Christmas Day at 3pm.  Last year, C4 even produced a spoof 'deep fake' message from "Queen Elizabeth II" which was considered disingenuous by many and generated more than 200 Ofcom complaints.

It would seem surprising, therefore, if Palace officials were to reach out enthusiastically to this unexpected 'olive branch'.  In any case, Channel 4 will have to wait:  The BBC completed its turn of "back-to-back" Broadcasts in 2020 and rotation reverts to ITV for the next two years - and then onto Sky.  Production of the Message is not due to return to the BBC until 2025.  What kind of relationship the Corporation will have with the Royal Family then remains to be seen.  Still, it is an interesting thought:  what would a Channel 4 produced Royal Christmas Message look like?

Is Windsor Castle now the 'default' location for the Queen's broadcasts?

 

'Cop 26' Message,  Windsor Castle, November 2021

Amidst all the current concern about Queen Elizabeth II's health there was one piece of reassuring information from seasoned royal commentator Robert Hardman.  According to Hardman's sources, plans to record the Christmas Broadcast 'remain unaltered' and 'staff are finalising the location this week.'

The annual Broadcast is one duty that the Queen can perform from 'home'.  It is usually recorded in early December, and as Her Majesty ages its location and timing can be adjusted to suit her.

One interesting question this year is where the Christmas Broadcast will be filmed.  When pre-recording of the annual Christmas Messages began in 1960, the 'default' location moved from Sandringham to Buckingham Palace.  Back in the relative normality of 2018, Elizabeth II recorded the eighth successive Christmas Message from the Palace; indeed, at the time only three of the nineteen productions since the millennium had been recorded elsewhere.

It seemed, therefore, a refreshing change when the 2019 production was filmed at Windsor Castle.  Until that year Windsor had only been used as the location on five previous occasions in Elizabeth II's long reign:  1982, 1984, 1997, 1999 and 2003.  One reason given for neglecting the ancient Castle when choosing recording venues for the annual Broadcast is that Windsor's proximity to Heathrow Airport means that noise from overhead passing aircraft makes sound recording problematic.

Christmas Broadcast 2018; Buckingham Palace

 

Then came the Covid lockdowns of 2020.  Elizabeth II chose to isolate at Windsor with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and one of her first duties that April was to speak to the peoples of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth in a message recorded at the Castle.  Another broadcast followed in May, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE-Day:  an event which could not be celebrated in the planned manner due to the restrictions in place.  By Christmas of 2020, the United Kingdom was in lockdown again, and the Queen's festive speech was once more recorded at Windsor Castle in the Green Drawing Room:  the very room where she had recorded her Christmas Broadcast a year earlier in very different circumstances.

In November 2021, Elizabeth II recorded a message to assembled world leaders and dignitaries at the 'Cop26' climate conference in Glasgow.  As is well known, Her Majesty had intended to deliver the speech in person, but was resting at Windsor on doctors' orders following an undisclosed health problem.  What is perhaps less known is that this was the fifth consecutive time that Elizabeth II had recorded a speech to camera at Windsor Castle; meaning that the Queen had made as many broadcasts from the Castle in a period of less than two years as she had done in the first fifty-one years of her reign.  Suddenly, the 'refreshing change' of 2019 looks remarkably ongoing.

It seems likely (assuming that - hopefully - the Queen is well enough to record this year's Christmas Message) that the venue for the 2021 Broadcast will once again be Windsor.  Her Majesty's recent health difficulties and the fact that she has apparently yet to move back to Buckingham Palace in the post-lockdown era would make the Castle the natural choice.  Who knows, by Christmas 2022, when, all being well, the Queen will have celebrated her Platinum Jubilee and will hopefully be restored to her usual health, this blogger may be writing that it is time to move the Christmas Broadcast back to Buckingham Palace for a change!

The 1952 Broadcast

Location:   Sandringham

Produced by:  BBC

Theme:

The new Queen Elizabeth II gives her first Christmas Broadcast exactly twenty years after her grandfather, King George V, delivered the very first Royal Christmas Message in 1932.

Her Majesty pays tribute to her late father King George VI, who had died the previous February, as well as to her grandfather who began the tradition of the annual Broadcast.  While citing their examples, the Queen looks ahead to her Coronation and dedicates herself to a life of service to Britain and the Commonwealth and thanks her Subjects for their support:

'My father, and my grandfather before him, worked all their lives to unite our peoples ever more closely, and to maintain its ideals which were so near to their hearts. I shall strive to carry on their work.

Already you have given me strength to do so. For, since my accession ten months ago, your loyalty and affection have been an immense support and encouragement. I want to take this Christmas Day, my first opportunity, to thank you with all my heart.'

Commentary:

At the age of only twenty-six, Elizabeth II was making her first Broadcast as Queen of the United Kingdom and a diminishing Empire, and as Head of a growing Commonwealth.  As a princess, the young Elizabeth already had experience of broadcasting (one report claimed that she had already made as many as thirty broadcasts) and, unlike her father, was comfortable at the microphone; but this was not only her first Christmas Message, it was her first broadcast as Monarch.

How Princess Elizabeth had ascended to the throne -  in Kenya while representing her father on an overseas tour - is well known.  The poor health of King George VI had been no secret and his medical prognosis was not good, but the young Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip had hoped that the heavy burden they knew one day must come was still some years away.  The King's death, when it came, had been sudden and unexpected.

When Christmas 1952 arrived, Elizabeth II had been Queen for more than ten months.  Exactly twenty years after King George V had delivered the very first Royal Christmas Message, Her Majesty was the first British monarch to inherit the Christmas Broadcast as an established annual tradition.  Despite the disruption that the presence of a BBC crew would have caused to the Christmas Day of a young wife with two small children, there had been no question that the Message would go ahead as usual.  Details had been confirmed by mid December and Elizabeth II's first broadcast as Queen was eagerly anticipated by the press.

The message from Queen Elizabeth II's speech is one of continuity, both in terms of the tradition of the Christmas Broadcast and as a 'blueprint' for her reign.  As though to emphasise the point, the BBC reported that the Queen, speaking from the study at Sandringham as King George V and King George VI had done, was using the same desk and chair as her father and grandfather before her.  Her Majesty pays tribute to both men, in whom she clearly believes she has been given the perfect example of constitutional monarchy.  The new Queen sees herself as a bridge between the old and the new, defending enduring values while encouraging scientific development and exploration; she considers that she has a duty to promote the Commonwealth, encourage peace between peoples and to remind listeners of the Christian message of the birth of Jesus.  These themes would echo down the decades in her Christmas Broadcasts.

Elizabeth II delivers her speech in a clear, high-pitched voice:  youthful yet self-assured; apparently awed by her new responsibility, but far from overwhelmed.  By the time of her Coronation broadcast six months later the Queen would seem to have grown in the role and her voice had matured noticeably.  The Broadcast was well-received with one report stating:

'The messages have always had two things in common. One has been the frank faith of the Monarch in the power of a Divine Being. The other has been the way in which the Monarch has spoken with parental affection, as to a family, rather than as a ruling sovereign.  Both these notes were struck with new inspiration and with, seemingly, even greater conviction by Her Majesty the Queen in her first Christmas broadcast.'

At the time of writing, almost seventy years have passed since the 1952 Broadcast.  Over the years the tone and the language - and maybe to some extent the Queen's accent - have changed.  Elizabeth II can no longer speak of an Empire, and phrases such as 'my peoples' and 'I give you my affectionate greetings' may seem dated and even condescending in the 2020s.  However, the themes, the essential values and above all Elizabeth II's commitment and sense of duty have remained steadfast and are still evident in the Queen's Christmas Broadcasts today.

  

Notes:

It was announced on this day by the prime minister of New Zealand that the Queen's Christmas Day speech the following year would be delivered from Auckland.

It has been suggested that the BBC had approached Buckingham Palace regarding the possibility of a televised Broadcast as early as the first year of the Queen's reign (Lacey, Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2002).  However, in 1952 only a small minority of people in the United Kingdom - let alone the Commonwealth - possessed a television so such overtures were easily rebuffed.  Many Britons would acquire their first sets in 1953 so that they could watch the Coronation live.  By the mid-1950s it was becoming much more difficult for the Palace to resist the television cameras.

Five years earlier, during a tour of South Africa, the then Princess Elizabeth had made her famous twenty-first birthday broadcast with the often-quoted lines:  'I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial Commonwealth to which we all belong.'  In the 1952 Christmas Message, the sentiment is even more emphatic, as the Queen states:  'I want to ask you all, whatever your religion may be, to pray for me on [Coronation] day - to pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.'  It is, perhaps, surprising that this is not quoted more often by those wishing to downplay periodic rumours that Elizabeth II intends to abdicate.

 The speech was broadcast live at 1507 GMT which was then the traditional time.

It was reported that the speech was heard by the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael.  Prince Philip stayed near the Queen to give her confidence (Seward, The Queen's Speech, 2015), while presumably the other senior royals listened together in another room at Sandringham.

While King George VI had spoken frankly about his health issues in his annual messages in the preceding years, Elizabeth II did not speak much of her personal life and would not make a practice of doing so in subsequent years.

Trivia:  

On a personal note, as Elizabeth II's reign begins, this ten-year project of reviewing retrospectively every Christmas Broadcast of the Queen's reign (with each new Broadcast reviewed as it occurred) is now complete and reviews of all the Broadcasts to date are now available (as of January 2021).  This does not mean that the Blog ends here:  there will hopefully be many new Christmas Broadcasts to review in the years to come and I am now free to post 'on a whim' about matters relating to the Christmas Message!

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