H.M. THE QUEEN’S CHRISTMAS BROADCAST 25th DECEMBER 3PM.
This year, the centenary of the start of World War One, the Queen used the theme of reconciliation in her Christmas Broadcast. She praised the ceramic poppy installation at the Tower of London which was a tribute to the fallen of the Great War and seen by millions. She said that as she walked among them that the only possible reaction was silence. The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Invictus Games for injured service personnel launched in London by Prince Harry, who turned 30 this year, were cited as examples of togetherness.
The Queen used a statue, called Reconciliation, to symbolise her theme, often she uses quotes from scripture and in her first televised Broadcast in 1957 quoted from a passage in Pilgrim’s Progress. She also talked of her visit to Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast and mentioned the Scottish Referendum. She also paid tribute to those helping the victims of Ebola in Africa. It was a superbly delivered and scripted Christmas Broadcast.
The tradition of Christmas Broadcasts was begun by George V when he inaugurated the Empire Service with a BBC broadcast from Sandringham in 1932. The Queen first Christmas Broadcast took place in 1952 and now can be watched online and is available on social media. This has considerably widened its audience, far fewer of which watch at 3pm as in the early decades of the Queen’s reign.
The Queen chooses a theme which is her own and in her own words, it is personal to her and it may also be one with global significance. There is always a deeply religious context to the message as she takes her role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England very seriously. Tributes are usually paid to our armed forces for whom the Queen records a special message. The highlights of the royal year, births, jubilees anniversaries and significant public engagements are included in the Broadcast, which lasts up to ten minutes.
The continuity embodied in this annual Broadcast is important as the Queen speaks to the Commonwealth to which she is so dedicated and broadcasts have often featured royal visits abroad.
The Queen’s state visit to France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings and her state visit to Rome and meeting with Pope Francis were most successful. The enormous popularity of the visits by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the Antipodes, with Prince George and to New York, with William meeting President Obama in Washington, was most significant.
The Queen’s historic state visit to Ireland in 2011 was arguably the highlight of her reign. The return visit of President Michael D. Higgins to Britain this year was an enormous success and the royal involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process and in reconciliation with Ireland has been a triumph.
On 9 September 2015 the Queen will become our longest reigning monarch. The Duke of Edinburgh at 93 is now the oldest ever European male consort. William and Kate, now resident at Anmer Hall with George at 17 months, have had a highly successful year despite Kate’s severe morning sickness and we look forward to a sibling for George in April. The Prince of Wales’s environmental campaigns and William’s campaign against the illegal trade in wildlife have also been of considerable significance in an excellent year for the monarchy.
By: RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, royal commentator is available on 07939 602 749 www.richardfitzwilliams.com
