Royal Christmas Message
The Royal Christmas speech (English Queen's Christmas Message or King's Christmas Message in a male monarch ) is a speech by the British head of state, which is broadcast annually on Christmas Day in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V on the British Broadcasting Corporation Empire Service (now BBC World Service ). Today the speech on television, is transmitted by different providers on the radio and on the Internet.
History
The idea for a weihnächtliche Embassy of the monarch on the British Empire was done by John Reith, the founder of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The address should be the first broadcast of the new Empire Service of the BBC. The text of the first speech wrote Rudyard Kipling. King George V was initially reluctant to use the relatively untested medium of radio. He settled for a visit to the BBC, however, convinced of the concept and read the message in a temporary studio built in Sandringham House. The introduction said Walton Cell Phone, a 65 -year-old shepherd from Ilmington, Warwickshire. Nestled in the program were carols of the local church choir and the bell ringing of the church there. It is estimated that the program reached 20 million people in Australia, India, Kenya, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
King Edward VIII abdicated in December 1936, before he could hold a Christmas speech. His brother George VI. continued the program of his father. The speeches of George V and George VI. play an important role in the 2010 released movie The King's Speech. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her first Christmas message on December 25, 1952 by her office in from Sandringham House, about eleven months after the death of her father. In 1957, the first television broadcast. By 1996, the BBC produced the show. In 1969, there was no Christmas message: Instead, the documentary Royal Family was shown, which was incurred in connection with the investiture of the Prince of Wales.
In 1992, a scandal arose when the tabloid The Sun published the text two days before the broadcast. The Queen sued the newspaper for breach of copyright. Subsequently, the newspaper had to take their attorney's fees and donate £ 200,000 to charity. The Queen ended the monopoly of the BBC and announced that the public television station will alternate from 1997 with the competitors Independent Television News ( ITN). 2006 the Daily Telegraph reported that it had adopted after the BBC had decided to show in the News Journal panorama a controversial interview with Princess Diana that decision. The Royal House disagreed with this view and held that the decision " widerspiegle the composition of today's TV and radio industry." 2011 Sky News joined to the producers. The following year, the speech was first transmitted in the 3DTV format.
Transmission
Usually, the Christmas message includes a recap of the major events of the past year ( with a particular focus on the Commonwealth of Nations ), the personal milestones of the monarch and thoughts about Christmas in general. It is one of the few events where the monarch used without any recommendations of a minister in one of the Commonwealth realms to the people. The planning of a speech begins a few months earlier, when the monarch establishes a theme, after suitable archive material is collected and compiled; the actual speech is recorded a few days before Christmas.
The program is subject to a vesting period, which lasts in the UK and on the Internet to 15:00 clock GMT. The broadcast times vary depending on the country. In New Zealand, Television New Zealand sends the speech at 18:50 clock local time, in Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at 19:20 clock and local time in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at 10:00 clock Eastern Standard Time (which is the same as 15:00 clock GMT).
Since 2004, Channel 4 sends parallel to the speech of the Queen an "alternative Christmas message ", held by well-known (often conflicting ) personalities, and often in a satirical and ironic tone.