History of Christmas Broadcasts

Queen Elizabeth II delivering her Christmas Message last year.

    

     One of the most enduring traditions of the modern monarchy is the Queen’s Christmas Message which is broadcasted on Christmas Day in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. Begun in 1932 as a radio broadcast by King George V, it is now delivered by his granddaughter Elizabeth II on television, radio, and the Internet. 

     The message is significant because unlike most speeches the Queen gives throughout the year, this one is not written by elected officials and their staffs. Instead, it is a message that conveys the Queen’s personal thoughts on current issues and concerns of the day, as well as her reflections on the Christmas season and its meaning to her and to the people of the Commonwealth. It also acts a summary of events of a personal, national, and global nature that have affected the Queen and her viewers/listeners over the past year. 

     In this respect, the format of the annual broadcast has not changed since the first one was delivered by George V almost 81 years ago. 

     The idea of the Christmas broadcast was the brainchild of Sir John Reith, the founding director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which had been in existence for only a decade. Sir John wanted a live message delivered by the King-Emperor to the British Empire as way of inaugurating the BBC Empire Service, but George V was hesitant about using the relatively untested medium of radio. He was eventually persuaded to go ahead with it, and temporary studio was set up at Sandringham House – the royal family’s private winter retreat. He also took a few lessons and practice sessions in front of the microphone in preparation for the live broadcast over what was then called the “wireless.” 

George V delivering the first royal Christmas broadcast.

     At 3:05 PM on Christmas Day 1932, King George V gave out the first royal Christmas broadcast to his Empire – using a speech which had been written by Rudyard Kipling and began with the line: “I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all.” He went on to say, “I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all; to men and women so cut off by the snows, the desert, or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them”, which was an acknowledgment of how the new radio technology was able to bring people together in a common unifying experience. 

     As it was, the King’s Christmas broadcast proved to very popular – listened to by a global audience of over 20 million from the UK to India and Australia to Canada. The King would go on to give a Christmas broadcast every year for the remainder of his reign. 

     When George V died in 1936, he was succeeded by his eldest son as Edward VIII, but he abdicated the throne before he could relay a broadcast himself. In this aftermath of the Abdication Crisis, Edward’s younger brother George VI did not give a Christmas broadcast that year, but did give one at the end of his coronation year in 1937. In it, he thanked the nation and Empire for their unity and support as he assumed the reins of kingship. 

George VI - seen with Queen Elizabeth and Eleanor Roosevelt - helped to maintain the spirits of the people in Britain and the Empire during the war.

     Such unity and support was needed more than ever during World War II, and it was George VI who, through the power of the microphone, provided reassurance and a sense of continuity to his peoples across the Empire as the war dragged on. His broadcasts helped to maintain and boost morale on the home front and within the armed forces in the face of dark and difficult times with statements like this: “A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle we shall remain undaunted.” 

     By the end of the war, the Christmas broadcast had become firmly integrated into the traditions of Britain, the Commonwealth, and the monarchy. George VI continued to deliver them live until 1951, when his ill health forced him to record the message in intervals which were spliced together for the actual broadcast. In it, he thanked the peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire for their sympathy and support during his illness, and talked about his recovery and hopes for the New Year. 

     As it was, this was the King’s last Christmas message, for he died on February 6, 1952. George VI was succeeded by his 25 year old daughter Elizabeth, who delivered her first Christmas message at the end of year by speaking about the now 20 year old tradition she was carrying from her father and grandfather, and promised to continue their work of binding the peoples of the Empire and Commonwealth together. Elizabeth II also thanked her subjects for their support in the year of her accession, and asked for their continued support and prayers for her with regard to the upcoming coronation in 1953. 

     Five years later in 1957, the message was delivered for the first time on television. It was broadcasted live from Sandringham on Christmas Day, and in it, the Queen commemorated the 25^th anniversary of the first broadcast by George V. This message added a new dimension to the annual speech, for it allowed the people of Britain and the Commonwealth to see the Queen speaking to them from her home to theirs, and Elizabeth II expressed her hope that this new medium would allow her messages to be more personal and direct – overcoming what she admitted was a remoteness about her, despite being constantly seen in film and print. She mentioned how she and her family, like other families around the world, gather around to watch television, and displayed the fact that her family also observed the Christmas season by decorating their home. 

     The Sovereign made mention of her overseas activities that year – including the opening of the new Canadian Parliament as the Queen of Canada, and her visits to the United States, Portugal, Denmark, and France as Queen of her realms and as Head of the Commonwealth. She also relayed her welcome to the Commonwealth’s newest independent members, Ghana and Malaya (now Malaysia), and made it clear of her devotion to this brotherhood of nations, and the British Islands from which it originated. She touched on the broad theme of preserving timeless ideals values such as the importance of religion, morality, honesty and self-restraint and spoke of the need for courage to stand up for what is right, true and honest, and expressed her hope for the emerging Commonwealth to be built and cherished on these and ideals and values. According to her, there were cynics who did not care much for these values, considered them to be old-fashioned, and were ready and willing to throw them away. Branching out from this theme, the mission of Britain and the Commonwealth from the Queen’s perspective was to boldly take these timeless ideals and carry them proudly into the future and to show the world that they can be relevant to new times and with the changing technology that among other things allowed people to watch the Queen that day. 

     Themes addressed by the monarch have been an important part of the message. They are developed months in advance as the Queen and her advisors take stock of the events going on in the world and attempt to connect them to a greater meaning for people (including the Queen herself) to reflect upon. Common themes of Christmas messages include faith and religion, family and community, unity and togetherness, service to others, duty and responsibility, and hopes for a better new year. Events such as royal births and anniversaries, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, feats of human achievement, contributions to society, and moments of national celebration (i.e., the London Olympics last year) have been highlighted in previous broadcasts over the years. 

     The broadcasts themselves were once live, but have been prerecorded since 1960, so that the film could be transported to all of the overseas Commonwealth realms in time for Christmas Day and aired at a convenient time for each realm. Even with the advent of high-speed communication, the broadcast is recorded so as to include footage from various royal occasions and other events that were significant through the previous year. (One can therefore think of the broadcast as a national highlight reel.) In addition, the pre-recorded sessions have allowed for flexibility in choosing the location for the broadcast. Filming usually takes place at Buckingham Palace, though Sandringham and Windsor Castle have also been used, and in 2003, the Queen used the Household Cavalry Barracks in Windsor to highlight the sacrifices being made in Iraq and Afghanistan by British and Commonwealth servicemen and women. 

     Until 1997, the BBC – which had pioneered the idea of the annual message – produced all of the broadcasts. In that year, it was decided to start a two-year rotation with ITV to (in words of the Palace), "reflect the composition of the television and radio industries today." Sky TV was added to the rotation in 2011, and it produced the first 3D broadcast of the Christmas message last year. In addition, the broadcast has been viewable on the Internet since 1997, and past messages have also been uploaded. Nevertheless, it is still originally aired at 3:00PM in Britain and it posted online after the original broadcasts have been completed throughout the Commonwealth.

The Queen views the broadcast as her chance to speak to her people directly in her own words.

     All told, the broadcasts last up to 10 minutes, during which the Queen has not only summarized the events of the past year, but has also brought attention to, and her perspectives on, developments such as the changing roles of women, an increasingly multi-faith Britain, and rapidly evolving technologies. As Head of the Armed Forces, she also does her bit to remind her peoples that many servicemen and women cannot be with their families for Christmas because they are abroad serving their country. Having been a mother who has had two sons who served actively in the military, and now as a grandmother with a grandson doing the same, the Queen probably understands what it this must feel like.

     The broadcasts from time to time also include the Queen’s personal thoughts, concerns, and experiences that are related back to things that her peoples are also thinking and going through in their own lives. She spoke of the blessings of life when her mother celebrated her 90^th birthday in 1990, and twelve years later shared her personal feelings of facing up to the twin losses of her mother and Princess Margaret within weeks of each other during her Golden Jubilee year. 

     With regard to the jubilee’s – Silver in 1977, Golden in 2000, and Diamond in 2012 – the Queen used the Christmas broadcast to thank her peoples for their participation in the jubilee events and making the jubilee years successful and memorable. 

     Just as with the Jubilees, the traditional Christmas broadcast provides a sense of continuity for the nation and Commonwealth. Viewing a familiar face year after year who provides a calm reassurance of stability in an ever-changing has become firmly embedded in the Christmas traditions of many families throughout the Commonwealth, including the Windsor’s, who with the exception of the Queen, gather around at Sandringham to watch the broadcast at 3:00PM. 

     In the United States, we do not have an equivalent to this tradition. Various presidents have issued statements and proclamations about Christmas and what it means to them as well as the nation at large. However, our presidents are partisan politicians, and though a Christmas message may attempt to speak for the entire country, there will be many people who will (rather unfortunately) not listen, watch, or read anything the President has to say because of his policies and/or political affiliation. 

     In contrast, the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast is her opportunity to speak directly to her people and to engage with them on events and occurrences that took place over the past year. It is also the chance for her to express her personal thanks and appreciation for the public that has given her its blessing over the decades. In so doing, she maintains and reinforces her and the monarchy’s role as the focus of unity in the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth. It has shown itself to be one of the more endurable aspects of the modern monarchy.

Photo Credit: Lzur via Wikimedia Commons cc