the queen's speech 1957

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Queen Elizabeth’s First Televised Broadcast Presented a New Type of Monarch

By: Lesley Kennedy

Updated: November 28, 2023 | Original: September 13, 2022

Queen Elizabeth ll delivers her Christmas speech at Buckingham Palace on December 25, 1957 in London, England.

King George V may have invented the tradition of delivering a Christmas Day message to the subjects of the British monarchy worldwide in 1932, but it was his granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II , who first televised the annual event 25 years later.

While George’s speeches were radio broadcasts, as were Elizabeth’s first addresses from 1952-1956, her historic 1957 speech aired on live TV from her home in Sandringham. The broadcasts offered viewers a rare, humanizing glimpse inside her residence and at her mannerisms, while reaching a vast audience. In her first broadcast, Elizabeth also noted that the monarch’s role had shifted from ruler to one of symbolic support for the kingdom’s people.

“I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct,” she said from the country house’s Long Library. “It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you. A successor to the kings and queens of history; someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”

Alan Allport, a professor and historian at Syracuse University who specializes in the history of Britain in the period of the two world wars, says television was still a fairly new medium in 1957, with millions of people witnessing TV programming for the first time while watching the queen's coronation four years earlier.

“The idea of beaming the image of the monarch into ordinary people's homes represented a new kind of intimacy in the relationship between the Crown and the masses,” he says. “The royal family has long faced the difficult balancing act of maintaining the dignity and mystique of monarchy while also appearing to be approachable and possessing enough of the 'common touch.’ ”

In the televised speech—viewed in Great Britain alone by 16.5 million people , with another 9.5 million listening in on radio—Elizabeth remarked that, in the past, the British monarch led soldiers on battlefields, offering constant, personal leadership.

“Today things are very different,” she said. “I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

Christmas Message Beginnings

King George V broadcasting to the empire on Christmas Day, Sandringham, 1935.

The first Christmas message from George V, ideated by BBC founder Sir John Reith and penned by poet Rudyard Kipling, reached 20 million listeners via BBC radio broadcast and received an extremely favorable response.

“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,” George V began his two-and-a-half-minute remarks.

George VI carried on the holiday tradition in 1937, as shown in the movie “The King’s Speech.” ( Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in less than a year, did not make a Christmas speech.) According to Royal.uk , the official website of the British royal family, there were no Christmas broadcasts in 1936 or 1938, but the outbreak of World War II prompted George VI to resume the tradition in 1939.

Since 1952, following her father’s death, Elizabeth delivered the message, something she continued to do every year except in 1969, when a printed version was circulated because a documentary on the royal family was scheduled during the holiday season.

Throughout her reign, the queen used the broadcasts to reflect on national, global and personal events, issues and concerns. Since 1960, the broadcasts, always aired at 3 p.m. in Great Britain, were pre-recorded so Commonwealth countries could run them at their preferred times.

A More Accessible Monarch

Despite its reception, the 1957 speech, according to Allport, followed a 1953 controversy about whether Elizabeth’s coronation should be televised, with some of the queen's advisors regarding the idea as vulgar and intrusive.

“Elizabeth herself had insisted on the presence of TV cameras to allow her subjects an unprecedented glimpse of the service,” he says. “She felt a modern democratic nation and Commonwealth needed a more accessible monarch. The 1957 Christmas broadcast was an extension of that greater visibility.”

However, that visibility had its limits, adds Allport, whose most recent book is Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War 1938-1941 .

“The queen's children were not shown in the broadcast and would not appear for some years to come, despite popular demand to see them, as Elizabeth felt that was too great an intrusion into the family's private life,” he says.

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How the Queen's First Televised Christmas Broadcast Changed the Royal Family Forever

Queen Elizabeth went live into millions of living rooms on Christmas afternoon in 1957.

Headshot of Katie Frost

The royal tradition , known as the King's Christmas Message, began in 1932, and the short address was an opportunity for the monarch to reflect on the year's major events and the royal family's personal milestones. Prior to 1957, it had been broadcast to the Commonwealth nations via radio, but that year, the Queen Elizabeth accepted the BBC’s request to read her remarks live on television from her quarters at Sandringham, her Norfolk estate.

Millions of people, sitting in their homes on the most sacred of family holidays, joined the Queen in her home for the first time.

The Queen's first televised Christmas message

In many ways, the evolution of the Christmas message mirrors the royal family's struggle to transform into a modern monarchy—to balance their roles as iconic figureheads with the insatiable thirst for information about their lives and relationships. Would they remain forever aloof and removed—or let the public in, little by little? With her first address, Queen Elizabeth made a convincing step toward openness. “I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct,” she said as she read from the Long Library in Sandringham at 3 p.m.

“It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you," the Queen added. "A successor to the Kings and Queens of history; someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”

Although delivering the message to camera was a first for a British monarch, the Queen, who had given her first Christmas broadcast just five years earlier, was a pro.

“We had a run-through on the day and then went straight into the live broadcast,” Richard Webber, who was in charge of production, told The Telegraph . “The Queen was extremely accomplished with the teleprompter and read the message brilliantly.”

She also proved to be a stickler for details. During the historic moment, the Queen picked up a book and read a few lines from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress . “The lines were printed on a sheet of paper inserted inside the book,” Webber recalled. “However, in the run-through the Queen quickly spotted that it wasn’t the right book and asked whether there was a copy in the library. Sure enough, there was.”

Despite their success, the Queen’s live televised broadcasts didn’t last long. In 1960, the message was pre-recorded from Buckingham Palace. The process was more convenient for everyone involved, and it meant a film reel of the message could be sent to all Commonwealth nations well in advance of Christmas day.

This tradition has continued every year since, with the arrival of the first color broadcast in 1967. The only exception is 1969, when the Queen decided to write a Christmas message instead of broadcasting one. It was the year of Charles’s investiture as Prince of Wales , and she reportedly felt the family had had enough exposure for the moment.

The Queen's 2016 Christmas message

The audience for the Christmas message has been in steady decline since its peak in 1980, the year before Charles and Diana's wedding, when it hit 28 million viewers in the UK. But that hasn't stopped the Crown from innovating. In 2006, when around 7.6 million Brits tuned in, the speech was made available for download as a podcast for the first time, and in 2012, Sky News produced the program in 3D. These days, viewers around the world can also catch the address through the royal family's Facebook and Youtube pages.

preview for What the Public Doesn't Know Is Inside Buckingham Palace

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The Queen's Christmas speech: Looking back at the monarch's first televised address in 1957

Elizabeth ii overcame nerves to deliver live broadcast from sandringham on britain's moral compass, her own public image and the health of the commonwealth, article bookmarked.

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Queen Elizabeth II will deliver her 66th Christmas message to the nation on 25 December.

The monarch first picked up the tradition commenced by her grandfather, King George V, in 1952. George himself had taken to the airwaves for the first time 20 years earlier to address the British public, finally taking BBC director-general John Reith up on an idea he had proposed as early as 1922.

The Queen’s first five Christmas Day speeches were likewise broadcast on radio but, in 1957, she agreed to try something new: television.

As depicted in the Netflix show The Crown , the royal was moved to overcome her anxiety about the new medium in the interest of showing a more human side to her character.

She had been stung by an editorial written by Lord Altrincham in The National and English Review , in which the peer had cruelly attacked her public speaking by saying: “The personality conveyed by the utterances which are put into her mouth is that of a priggish schoolgirl, captain of the hockey team, a prefect, and a recent candidate for confirmation.”

The Queen and her Prime Ministers

The speech was duly broadcast live on the BBC from the Long Library at Sandringham at 3.07pm on 25 December 1957, as a nation sat back to sleep off its lunch.

The Queen perched at her father’s desk surrounded by framed photographs of her family – a young Charles sitting in a tree is visible at her elbow – and was dressed in a gold lamé gown, pearl necklace and dark lipstick.

Her discomfort was there for all to see, no matter how hard she fought to resist wringing her hands.

Her grandfather’s first Christmas speech had been written by Rudyard Kipling . Elizabeth too had help from an admired novelist, with Daphne du Maurier providing suggestions. But the final draft actually came from her husband, Prince Philip.

“Happy Christmas. Twenty-five years ago my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages,” she began, before reflecting on the novelty of the new technology.

“Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day. My own family often gather round to watch television as they are this moment, and that is how I imagine you now.”

The Queen then indirectly addressed Lord Altrincham’s criticism of her austere public image.

“It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you. A successor to the kings and queens of history; someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”

Reflecting on the pace of contemporary progress, Elizabeth diagnosed a moment of national uncertainty and cautioned the British people against “unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were old and outworn machinery”.

“They would have religion thrown aside, morality in personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint,” she said, with a surprising degree of bite.

  • Queen laments 'sheer awfulness' of Grenfell fire in Christmas message

Defending “fundamental principles”, she urged courage in the face of “the subtle corruption of the cynics” and said: “It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.”

Turning her attention away from moral guidance to affairs of the Commonwealth , she welcomed newly independent Ghana and Malaya and discussed her visit to Ottawa to open the Canadian parliament and other visits abroad to Portugal, France, Denmark and the US over the course of the year.

The Queen then took a moment to consider the changing nature of her own role within society.

“In the old days the monarch led his soldiers on the battlefield and his leadership at all times was close and personal,” she observed.

“Today things are very different. I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

Concluding by reading aloud an inspirational passage from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), she signed off by wishing her subjects “all the fun and enjoyment, and the peace of a very happy Christmas” with a beaming smile.

The Queen would broadcast live on Christmas Day twice more before a switch to pre-recording at Buckingham Palace was made in 1960, allowing for mistakes to be corrected and for copies to be sent overseas in advance. The first colour version of her Christmas speech was aired on 25 December 1967.

Watching the annual broadcast became a tradition with many families and interest peaked in 1980, as Charles and Diana Spencer’s wedding approached, with 28m viewers tuning in.

Viewing figures are now closer to 8m but the Windsors have worked hard to keep up with changing times, making the Queen’s Christmas speech available as a podcast, broadcasting in 3D and streaming it on YouTube and Facebook.

“In many ways, the evolution of the Christmas message mirrors the royal family’s struggle to transform into a modern monarchy – to balance their roles as iconic figureheads with the insatiable thirst for information about their lives and relationships,” observed Kate Frost of Town & Country .

The Christmas broadcast continues to play a crucial role in building a relationship between the royals and the British people, something the Queen understood instinctively as early as 1957.

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Milestones of a Monarch: The Queen’s first televised Christmas Message

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“Twenty-five years ago my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages. Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day.”

The Queen uttered these words on Christmas Day 1957 during her first televised Christmas Message, broadcast live from the Long Library at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

In 1932, King George V became the first monarch to deliver a Christmas Day message, using the radio to speak to his subjects around the world. By 1957, The Queen helped revolutionise the Christmas Message once more, granting the BBC’s request to televise her speech live from the library at Sandringham, where the Royal Family was spending its holidays.

The Queen spoke of the value of keeping old traditions while modernising, and how the new medium would provide a more personal touch to her yuletide reflections.

“It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you. A successor to the Kings and Queens of history; someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes I welcome you to the peace of my own home,” she said.

“That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us. Because of these changes I am not surprised that many people feel lost and unable to decide what to hold on to and what to discard. How to take advantage of the new life without losing the best of the old.”

The Queen had been used to giving her Christmas Message on radio, but was a pro at adapting to the new medium according to the man in charge of producing the segment. In an interview with The Telegraph , Richard Webber reminisced of the run-through they’d done just before going live, and how “The Queen was extremely accomplished with the teleprompter and read the message brilliantly.”

She also had a moment of stage management, when the book she was supposed to quote, The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan wasn’t in her hands. Webber recalled that the lines had been typed out on a sheet of paper and inserted into the book she was holding, but when she noticed that it wasn’t the correct book, she asked if there was a copy in the library for her to switch to. “Sure enough, there was.”

The Queen’s Christmas Message in 1957 spoke of her relative youth and modernity compared to monarchs of the past, but in typical fashion, included a commitment to duty and service that, 70 years on from her accession day, have held strong.

“In the old days the monarch led his soldiers on the battlefield and his leadership at all times was close and personal.

“Today things are very different. I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.

“I believe in our qualities and in our strength, I believe that together we can set an example to the world which will encourage upright people everywhere.”

The Queen did not continue with live televised broadcasts for much longer; by 1959, her Christmas Message was a pre-recorded affair that allowed easier access of the tape for her various Commonwealth realms and nations.

Since 1957, The Queen has televised a Christmas Message every year except 1969, when, feeling like she was overexposed due to the Prince of Wales’s televised investiture and the release of the infamous Royal Family documentary, she wrote a message instead.

The Queen’s full 1957 Christmas Message can be read here .

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the queen's speech 1957

Queen Elizabeth's First Televised Christmas Speech (1957)

The Christmas Broadcast, 1957 Transcript

The Christmas Broadcast, 1957 Transcript

The first televised Christmas Broadcast or ‘Queen’s Speech’, filmed at Sandringham House in Norfolk. Read the transcript here.

the queen's speech 1957

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the queen's speech 1957

Speaker 1: ( 00:33 ) Happy Christmas. 25 years ago, my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages. Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day. My own family often gather around to watch television, as they are at this moment. And that is how I imagine you now. I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct. It’s inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you, a successor to the kings and queens of history, someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never rarely touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the piece of my own home. That it’s possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us. Because of these changes, I’m not surprised that many people feel lost and unable to decide what to hold onto and what to discard, how to take advantage of the new life without losing the best of the old.

Speaker 1: ( 02:08 ) But it’s not the new inventions which are the difficulty. The trouble is caused by unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were owed and outworn machinery. They would have religion thrown aside, morality and personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint. At this critical moment in our history, we will certainly lose the trust and respect to the world if we just abandon those fundamental principles which guided the men and women who built the greatness of this country and Commonwealth. Today, we need a special kind of courage, not the kind needed in battle, but a kind which makes us stand up for everything that we know is right, everything that is true and honest. We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics so that we can show the world that we are not afraid of the future. It has always been easier to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.

Speaker 1: ( 03:38 ) That’s why we can take a pride in the new Commonwealth we are building. This year, Ghana and Malaya joined our brotherhood. Both these countries are entirely self-governing. Both achieved their new status amicably and peacefully. This advance is a wonderful tribute to the efforts of men of goodwill who have worked together as friends, and I welcome these two countries with all my heart. Last October, I opened the new Canadian Parliament. And as you know, this was the first time that any sovereign had done so in Ottawa. Once again, I was overwhelmed by the loyalty and enthusiasm of my Canadian people. Also during 1957, my husband and I paid visits to Portugal, France, Denmark and the United States of America. In each case, the arrangements and formalities were managed with great skill, but no one could have managed the welcome we received from the people. In each country, I was welcomed as head of the Commonwealth and as your representative. These nations are our friends largely because we’ve always tried to do our best to be honest and kindly and because we have tried to stand up for what we believe to be right.

Speaker 1: ( 05:22 ) In the old days, the monarch soldiers on the battlefield, and his leadership at all times was close and personal. Today, things are very different. I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations. I believe in qualities and in our strength. I believe that together, we can set an example to the world, which will encourage upright people everywhere.

Speaker 1: ( 06:11 ) I would like to read you a few lines from Pilgrim’s Progress because I’m sure we can say with Mr. Valiant-for-Truth these words. “Though with great difficulty, I am got hither. Yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him, which will succeed me in my pilgrimage and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles who now will be my rewarder.” I hope that 1958 may bring you God’s blessing and all the things you long for. And so I wish you all, young and old, wherever you may be all the fun and enjoyment and the peace of a very happy Christmas.

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1957: christmas broadcast speech.

the queen's speech 1957

The Queen's 1957 Christmas Broadcast was an historic event, as it was the first to be televised. It was also the 25th anniversary of the first Christmas Broadcast on the radio. The broadcast was made live from the Long Library at Sandringham, Norfolk.

After a scathing magazine article criticizes the queen’s relatability and speech-making style, she explores new ways to better connect with the British people. A few months later, a nervous Elizabeth is in front of the camera warmly addressing her subjects during her first televised Royal Christmas Message, beginning a tradition she would continue to observe for the next 64 years.  

Here you can find the link  for the official speech. 

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The Queen's Christmas Speech, 1957

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh pose for a portrait at home in Buckingham Palace in December 1958 in London, England. (Photo by Donald McKague/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh pose for a portrait at home in Buckingham Palace in December 1958 in London, England. (Photo by Donald McKague/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Image: Getty Images

This footage is from Queen Elizabeth's first ever televised Christmas broadcast.

Happy Christmas! 

Tis' the season and what better way to celebrate the day than by putting your feet up and watching the Queen's speech...From 1957!

Every year since 1952, the Queen would give an annual Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth, in which she reflects on the past year and looks ahead to the future. Since 1957, the broadcast has been televised, and the whole Royal Family is said to watch it together on Christmas Day.

The first speech to be televised will go down in history as an iconic moment for Queen Elizabeth, cementing herself in the public eye.

Have a look at the footage below, courtesy of The Royal Family YouTube channel

  • How many of these Royal Christmas traditions do you know?

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Merry Christmas to all of my readers! Later today, the Queen’s annual Christmas Speech will be broadcast in the UK and the Commonwealth. In honour of the occasion, we are featuring the Queen’s first televised Speech on this day in 1957. The scene was recently dramatized in Season 2 of Netflix’s The Crown .

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I wish first to express to you, to the Secretary-General and to the General Assembly of the United Nations my great pleasure at being here today. This Assembly was born of the endeavors of countless men and women from different nations who, over the centuries, have pursued the aims of the preservation of peace between nations, equality of justice for all before the law and the right of the peoples of the world to live their lives in freedom and security. The Charter of the United Nations was framed with a view to giving expression to these great purposes and so forming a fitting memorial to the men and women whose toil and sacrifices turned those ideas into articles of faith for the nations of today. Time has in fact made the task of the United Nations more difficult than it seemed when the terms of the charter were agreed at San Francisco twelve years ago. We are still far from the achievement of the ideals which I have mentioned but we must not be discouraged. The peoples of the world expect the United Nations to persevere in its efforts. Ten Commonwealth countries are represented in this Assembly — countries which form a free association of fully independent states and which have widely different histories, cultures and traditions. Common ideals and hopes, not formal bonds, unite the members of the Commonwealth and promote that association between them which, in my belief, has contributed significantly to the cause of human freedom. The countries of the Commonwealth regard their continuing association with one another and joint service to their high ideals as still an essential contribution to world peace and justice. They add and will continue to add to a tried element of strength, and of accumulated experience. The United Nations is an organization, dedicated to peace, where representatives from all over the world meet to examine the problems of the time. In it men and women from all these countries — large or small, powerful or weak — can exercise an influence that might otherwise be denied them. The United Nations also originates and inspires a wide range of social and economic activities for the benefit of the whole human race. But, Mr. President, the future of this Organization will be determined, not only by the degree to which its members observe strictly the provisions of the charter and cooperate in its practical activities, but also by the strength of its people’s devotion to the pursuit of those great ideals to which I have referred. When justice and respect for obligations are firmly established, the United Nations will the more confidently achieve the goal of a world at peace, law abiding and prosperous for which men and women have striven so long and which is the heart’s desire of every nation here represented.

I offer you my best wishes in your task and pray that you may be successful.  

More History

the queen's speech 1957

The Seven Most Memorable Speeches Given By Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II's annual Christmas address may have been the most famous, but her 21st birthday one is even more powerful.

Kelsey Weekman

BuzzFeed News Reporter

the queen's speech 1957

Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, of England on tour of South Africa in 1947

As a world leader for over 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II had to make a lot of speeches.

Some of her most powerful addresses came before she even officially took the throne, and continued through regular speeches on Christmas and in moments of crisis. Even just months before her death at age 96 , the queen was still speaking to the nation, reminiscing fondly about her husband, Prince Philip .

Here are some of her most memorable.

1947 Birthday Message

the queen's speech 1957

View this video on YouTube

Though she wouldn’t be queen until 1956, Princess Elizabeth delivered a message on her 21st birthday in South Africa in which she dedicated her life to serving the British Empire.

1997 Tribute to Princess Diana

the queen's speech 1957

After Princess Diana’s death, Queen Elizabeth honored her daughter-in-law’s unforgettable life with remarks at Buckingham Palace, even though the pair had a notoriously difficult relationship.

“In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness,” Queen Elizabeth said. “I admired and respected her for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys.”

2020 COVID-19 Broadcast

the queen's speech 1957

In an April 2020 address livestreamed from Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth acknowledged the toll the COVID-19 pandemic had taken on the world and encouraged others to persevere.

She ended the broadcast with the now iconic line, “We will meet again.”

1940 BBC Children’s Hour Broadcast

the queen's speech 1957

At just 13 years old, Princess Elizabeth delivered her first-ever public speech on the radio. a morale-boosting message addressed to fellow young people affected by World War II.

“And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place,” she said.

1960 State Opening of Parliament

the queen's speech 1957

To kick off the parliamentary year, the queen highlights priorities for the upcoming months. Queen Elizabeth delivered a particularly rousing speech in 1960, which was also the first one filmed in color.

“My armed forces will continue to make their contribution to the safeguarding of world peace,” she said. “The friendship which links us to our great ally, the United States of America, is a powerful element of the defense of peace.”

1957 Christmas Broadcast

the queen's speech 1957

Queen Elizabeth delivered her first Christmas address to the UK in 1957, in what became a national tradition that has also served as a unifying event at the end of each year. She wasn’t the first to broadcast a Christmas speech, but she was the first to have her speeches televised, 25 years after her grandfather King George V’s appeared on the radio.

“Twenty-five years ago, my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages,” she said. “Today is another landmark, because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day. My own family often gather round to watch television, as they are at this moment, and that is how I imagine you now.

“I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct. It’s inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you, a successor to the kings and queens of history, someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now, at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”

2021 Christmas Broadcast

the queen's speech 1957

In her final Christmas speech, Queen Elizabeth honored her late husband, Prince Philip, with a heartfelt address.

“His sense of service, intellectual curiosity, and capacity to squeeze fun out of any situation were all irrepressible,” she said. “That mischievous, enquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him.”

Topics in this article

  • Queen Elizabeth
  • Royal Family
  • viral moments

IMAGES

  1. The Queen's Christmas Day Speech 1957

    the queen's speech 1957

  2. The Queen's Christmas speech: Looking back at the monarch's first televised address in 1957

    the queen's speech 1957

  3. The Queen's speech! Queen Elizabeth giving her Christmas speech in 1957

    the queen's speech 1957

  4. Queen Elizabeth's First Televised Christmas Speech (1957)

    the queen's speech 1957

  5. Did the Queen's speech prove that she watches The Crown?

    the queen's speech 1957

  6. The Queen's first Televised Christmas Speech 1957

    the queen's speech 1957

VIDEO

  1. ROYAL CHRISTMAS FIASCO? BREAKING NEWS REVEALED #meghanmarkle #royalfamily #princeharry

  2. Queen's speech delivered in Parliament

  3. What is the Queen's speech?

  4. Queens Christmas Speech 1957

  5. Queen's Speech 5

  6. The Queen's Christmas Broadcast, 1957

COMMENTS

  1. The Christmas Broadcast, 1957

    The first televised Christmas Broadcast or 'Queen's Speech', filmed at Sandringham House in Norfolk.More on The Royal Family: www.royal.ukCredit: PA Images

  2. Christmas Broadcast 1957

    Published 25 December 1957. Twenty-five years ago my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages. Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day. The Queen's 1957 Christmas Broadcast was an historic event, as it was the first to be televised.

  3. Queen Elizabeth's First Televised Broadcast Presented a New ...

    Despite its reception, the 1957 speech, according to Allport, followed a 1953 controversy about whether Elizabeth's coronation should be televised, with some of the queen's advisors regarding ...

  4. Queen's Christmas Message 1957

    On December 25 1957, the Queen made history with her annual Christmas message. ... In 2006, when around 7.6 million Brits tuned in, the speech was made available for download as a podcast for the ...

  5. The Queen's Christmas speech: Looking back at the monarch's first

    The Queen's Christmas speech: Looking back at the monarch's first televised address in 1957. Elizabeth II overcame nerves to deliver live broadcast from Sandringham on Britain's moral compass, her ...

  6. The Queen's first Televised Christmas Speech 1957

    This year's message, read from the Long Library at Sandringham House, was the first to be televised and was also the 25th anniversary of the first Christmas ...

  7. The Queen's Christmas Broadcast 1957

    In 1957 The Queen allowed her annual Christmas message to be televised (rather than being broadcast on radio only) for the first time. In her message, filmed...

  8. Milestones of a Monarch: The Queen's first televised Christmas Message

    By 1957, The Queen helped revolutionise the Christmas Message once more, granting the BBC's request to televise her speech live from the library at Sandringham, where the Royal Family was ...

  9. 1957 Christmas Broadcast

    In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II made her first live televised Christmas broadcast from Sandringham House. It was an historic event, not least because this was the first time that the public could see and hear the queen thanks to what she described as the 'new medium' of television. Additionally, it took place on the 25th anniversary of the ...

  10. Elizabeth II: 'I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old

    25 December 1957, Sandringham House, Norfolk, United Kingdom This was the first Queen's speech to be televised. Happy Christmas. Twenty-five years ago my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages. Today is another landmark because television has made it possible

  11. A Point of View: The story of the Queen's Christmas speech

    The Queen's 1957 Christmas speech This is a very different world of technology and communications from the one that prevailed when George V gave his first Christmas broadcast more than 80 years ago.

  12. Queen Elizabeth's First Televised Christmas Speech (1957)

    Watch Queen Elizabeth II's first televised Christmas Broadcast or "Queen's Speech," recorded at Sandringham House in Norfolk. During her Christmas speech, she expresses subtle excitement for being able to deliver the speech via television, but she warns that as we embrace the new, we must still hold dear the important things from the past, including religion, values, morality and honesty.

  13. First Televised Christmas Broadcast, 1957

    The first televised Christmas Broadcast or 'Queen's Speech', filmed at Sandringham House in Norfolk. Read the transcript here. Transcribe Your Own Content. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. Speaker 1: ( 00:33) Happy Christmas. 25 years ago, my grandfather broadcast the first of these Christmas messages.

  14. THE QUEEN'S SPEECH (Hansard, 5 November 1957)

    THE QUEEN'S SPEECH. HL Deb 05 November 1957 vol 206 cc1-5 1 § The QUEEN, being seated on the Throne, and attended by Her Officers of State (the Lords being in their robes), commanded the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, through the Lord Great Chamberlain, to let the Commons know, ...

  15. 1957: Christmas Broadcast speech

    The Queen's 1957 Christmas Broadcast was an historic event, as it was the first to be televised. It was also the 25th anniversary of the first Christmas Broadcast on the radio. ... After a scathing magazine article criticizes the queen's relatability and speech-making style, she explores new ways to better connect with the British people.

  16. A speech by The Queen to the UN General Assembly, 1957

    A speech by The Queen to the UN General Assembly, 1957. Published 21 October 1957. Common ideals and hopes, not formal bonds, unite the members of the Commonwealth and promote that association between them which, in my belief, has contributed significantly to the cause of human freedom.

  17. The Queen's Christmas Broadcast, 1957

    See this historic moment in stunningly restored colour — Twenty five years after her grandfather King George V made the first ever Royal Christmas Speech ove...

  18. The Queen's Christmas Speech, 1957

    Every year since 1952, the Queen would give an annual Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth, in which she reflects on the past year and looks ahead to the future. Since 1957, the broadcast has been televised, and the whole Royal Family is said to watch it together on Christmas Day. The first speech to be televised will go down in history as ...

  19. Queen's Speech 1957: Remembering the Queen's first televised address

    The Queen made his first televised Christmas speech in 1957, four years after being crowned as monarch. The royal tradition, known as the King's Christmas Message, began in 1932, and the short ...

  20. Queen's Christmas Speech, 1957

    Queen's Christmas Speech, 1957. Merry Christmas to all of my readers! Later today, the Queen's annual Christmas Speech will be broadcast in the UK and the Commonwealth. In honour of the occasion, we are featuring the Queen's first televised Speech on this day in 1957. The scene was recently dramatized in Season 2 of Netflix's The Crown.

  21. Address to the UN General Assembly

    Here is the video clip of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to New York. It covers her visit at the UN headquarters from 1:36. Scroll down for the full transcript. It follows the full text transcript of Elizabeth II's Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations, delivered at New York, N.Y. — October 21, 1957.

  22. American Rhetoric: Queen Elizabeth II

    delivered 21 October 1957. Audio mp3 Excerpts of Address. click for pdf. I thank you, Mr. President, for your words of welcome. I wish first to express to you, to the Secretary-General and to the General Assembly of the United Nations my great pleasure at being here today. This Assembly was born of the endeavors of countless men and women from ...

  23. Here Are Queen Elizabeth's Most Memorable Speeches

    Queen Elizabeth delivered her first Christmas address to the UK in 1957, in what became a national tradition that has also served as a unifying event at the end of each year. She wasn't the first to broadcast a Christmas speech, but she was the first to have her speeches televised, 25 years after her grandfather King George V's appeared on ...

  24. Sir Peter Hordern, longserving backbencher who brought City insights to

    Sir Peter Hordern, who has died on his 95th birthday, was a mainstay of the Conservative back benches for more than three decades. Lean, insightful and respected, he was elected to the 1922 ...

  25. A speech by Her Majesty The Queen on her first visit to The Royal

    A speech by Her Majesty The Queen on her first visit to The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own), having been appointed as Colonel-in-Chief. Published 23 April 2024. My father described the Regiment as a "highly efficient entity, highly skilled, and full of personalities", I have no doubt that your upcoming deployments will be ...