His Majesty The King’s Christmas message 2024
Following the tradition that began in 1932 by her father, King George V, Her Majesty The Queen broadcast her inaugural Christmas message live on the radio from her study at Sandringham, Norfolk in 1952. The Queen began: “Each Christmas, at this time, my beloved father broadcast a message to his people in all parts of the world. Today I am doing this to you, who are now my people.”
From 1952-56, the annual Christmas Day message was broadcast on BBC radio before her first television gig in 1957.
In an attempt to overcome nerves and a stinging editorial written by Lord Altrincham in The National and English Review, in which he had cruelly attacked her public speaking, Her Majesty looked upon this as a way to conquer her anxiety about the new medium, all in the interest of showing a more human side to her character.
Thankfully, this “new medium” of television, as The Queen put it over six decades ago in 1957, took hold, thus allowing for The Queen’s Happy Christmas message to be seen and not just heard each year on Christmas Day. This first televised Christmas broadcast by The Queen was also broadcast live from Sandringham House in Norfolk in 1957. I love her calling television a landmark as it allowed “so many of you to see me.” Sadly, the Queen’s last Christmas Day message was 2021 prior to her death on September 8, 2022.
For Christmas Day 2024 in his annual broadcast, The King spoke of the importance of supporting and learning from each other. This year, His Majesty’s message was filmed in the Fitzrovia Chapel, London. Formerly the chapel of Middlesex Hospital, it is now a space for quiet reflection, discovery and celebration, connecting diverse communities from all faiths or none.
King Charles also used his Christmas address to thank doctors and nurses who provided “strength, care and comfort” during his cancer treatment. He also praised diversity and the way communities in the UK resisted summer riots after the murder of three children in Southport.
For the inner-Anglophile in all of us, here’s a comprehensive transcript list of all The Queen’s Christmas messages, from her initial message following the death of her father in 1952 to her last speech in 2021.
Happy Christmas to all from Tellyspotting! and, His Majesty The King.
In: Odds & Sods
