Queen’s Christmas message will focus on family, like 60 years ago

AS SHE looks ahead to her Diamond Jubilee next year, the Queen’s Christmas broadcast will echo her first festive message by speaking of the importance of family, friends and the community.

It was 59 years ago that the Queen first broadcast to the nation, after the death of her father. In those days, the Christmas message went out over the radio.

Back in 1952, the young Queen spoke of how the nation’s thoughts turned to their families at Christmas time. Almost 60 years later, she will return to a similar theme at the end of a year that has seen two of her grandchildren get married – Prince William to Kate Middleton, and Zara Phillips to Mike Tindall.

During the message, which was recorded on 9 December and will be broadcast in full tomorrow, the Queen will say: “Of course, family does not necessarily mean blood relatives, but often a description of a community, organisation or nation. The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals.”

In the broadcast, filmed in Buckingham Palace’s 1844 Room, the Queen sports a pair of glasses – rimless spectacles from an undisclosed manufacturer.

She wears a strawberry red dress by Angela Kelly, with the diamond and platinum Flame Lily brooch that was a 21st birthday present from the children of Southern Rhodesia.

At the start of the programme, the Queen is seen meeting senior Sky News staff who produced this year’s Christmas message, a first for the broadcaster.

As the address draws to a close, the Band of the Irish Guards are featured playing the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Children from St Joseph’s Catholic Infants’ School in Camberwell, south London, perform a scene from a nativity play.

The length of her reign means that the Queen has now become an experienced hand at Christmas speeches. But in the early days she was not quite as accomplished a broadcaster as she is now.

Although she never had to overcome the sort of problems suffered by her father – whose battle with a speech impediment was portrayed this year in the film The King’s Speech – her early efforts were not without their nervy moments.

In the early 1950s, the message had to be broadcast live and her stilted delivery came in for some criticism. Prince Philip clowned around in the background to put his nervous wife at her ease.

This year’s message will be transmitted on both television and radio at 3pm tomorrow. It will be available on the Royal Channel on YouTube and will be shown in Commonwealth countries.

Looking back over the years, it is possible to see how her speeches have reflected the momentous events that have taken place while she has been on the throne.