BBC ON THIS DAY | 25 | 1952: Queen makes first Christmas speech About This Site | Text Only 1952: Queen makes first Christmas speech Millions of British and Commonwealth listeners have been listening to Queen Elizabeth's first Christmas broadcast of her reign. In a tradition that began in 1932, the Queen made her address on BBC radio from the study at Sandringham House at 1507 GMT. She used the same desk and chair as her father King George VI and his father King George V had done. The annual broadcast allowed nations around the world to hear the voice of their monarch, made more human by the power of radio. 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. Message to armed forces "As he used to do, I am speaking to you from my own home, where I am spending Christmas with my family." She also made mention of those serving abroad, referring no doubt to armed forces in Korea, Malaya and Kenya. "I have a special thought for those who are serving their country in distant lands far from their families.

Wherever you are either at home or away, in snow or in sunshine, I give you my affectionate greetings, with every good wish for Christmas and the New Year." In clear, firm tones she thanked her subjects for their "loyalty and affection" since her accession to the throne 10 months ago and promised to continue the work of her father and grandfather to unite the nations of the British Commonwealth and Empire. She asked them to pray for her on coronation day next summer. The Prime Minister of New Zealand announced today that the Queen will make next year's Christmas broadcast from Government House in Auckland. Marilyn's Royal Blog: The Royal Christmas Broadcast Friday, December 23, 2005 The Royal Christmas Broadcast Through one of the marvels of modern science, I am enabled, this Christmas Day, to speak to all my peoples throughout the Empire. I take it as a good omen that Wireless should have reached its present perfection at a time when the Empire has been linked in closer union. For it offers us immense possibilities to make that union closer still. On Christmas day 1932, King George V made the first royal Christmas broadcast.

His speech was short, no more than 251 words, and lasted two-and-a-half minutes, but it started a tradition that has continued to this day. The text of this Christmas speech was written by poet and writer Rudyard Kipling and it was broadcast live by radio from his study at Sandringham. The time chosen was 3 pm - the best time for reaching most of the countries in the Empire by short waves from the transmitters in Britain. Although he had reigned since 1910, it wasn't until the summer of 1932 that he was convinced to do a Christmas broadcast using the 'untried medium of radio'. King George V continued to broadcast until the end of his reign. His voice noticeably weaker, his last speech came in 1935, a month before his death. There was no Christmas broadcast in 1936 as King Edward VIII abdicated just before Christmas. His successor, King George VI delivered his first Christmas message in 1937, thanking the nation for their support during the first year of his reign. George VI had stammered most of his life and he would always find making the broadcast to be an ordeal.

There would be no broadcast in 1938, as it had yet to become a regular tradition. However the Second World War would change that. In 1939, three months after war had been declared, he made a speech that was to have a profound effect. Wearing his uniform of Admiral of the Fleet, he reassured his people in the uncertain times ahead. During the Second World War these broadcasts played a large part in boosting morale and reinforcing belief in the common cause. All of his broadcasts were live except for his last one, in 1951. Suffering from lung cancer, the message was pre-recorded as he was only able to manage the recording in intervals. Despite this, his optimistic words were to touch his listeners, who were unaware of the seriousness of his illness. He died in February 1952, and his heir, the present Queen, made her first broadcast on Christmas day of that year. Using the same desk and chair as her father and grandfather, she broadcast her radio message live from Sandringham. This message would be recorded and re-broadcast all over the world for the benefit of those who could not get a good reception that day.

In 1953, while on her Commonwealth tour, she made her speech from Auckland, New Zealand; the first and only time that it would be done outside of the United Kingdom. In 1957, on the 25th anniversary of her grandfather's first broadcast, the Queen's Christmas message was televised for the first time. From 1960 onwards, the broadcasts were recorded in advance so that tapes of the speech would be sent across the Commonwealth for transmissions at convenient times. The Queen has given a broadcast every year of her reign except one. In 1969, when the documentary film 'Royal Family' was shown, it was decided not to broadcast a Christmas message. Instead she released a written message . Listeners missed the broadcast and wrote to the BBC to complain. A message had been broadcast without break ever since. The broadcast has kept up with modern technology. In 1932, King George V had the 'wireless', in 1957, the Queen broadcast live on television, and in 1998 the broadcast appeared on the Internet for the first time. Today, the message is recorded a few days before Christmas and lasts up to 10 minutes.

Since 1932, the Christmas broadcast has become a chronicle of global, national and personal events, reflecting current issues and concerns. Lending a personal touch, the Queen talks about her hopes for the year ahead and what Christmas means to her and many of her listeners. This year will be the Queen's 52nd Christmas broadcast. We can look forward to this tradition continuing for many years to come. For a complete archive of the Queen's Christmas broadcasts click here . SOLtalk : Special Feature A Christmas message from H.M. Itï¿½s as much part of a British Christmas as Carols from Kings, overcooked sprouts and the school nativity play. But what are the origins of the annual message from the monarch to the people of Britain? Which monarch never broadcast one and in which year did Elizabeth II refuse to make one? Where did she appear at Christmas 1966 for the first time ever, and why is the message broadcast at 3pm? The first Christmas Day message was broadcast in 1932 and was the idea of John Reith, then Director General of the BBC, who believed that the monarch should use the exciting new medium of radio to speak to the nation as one family.

Ten years earlier, as general manager of the British Broadcasting Company, he had first approached George V but the King had declined, saying that the system was still too experimental to be used for a royal message. A decade later, the BBC was preparing to launch its Empire Service, now known as the World Service, and Mr Reith tried again, now able to promise an audience abroad as well as at home. The King was still sceptical but an exploratory visit to Broadcasting House in the summer set the Royal mind at rest, and plans were set in motion for the event. The reason that the monarchï¿½s Christmas Day message is broadcast at 3pm is not to fill an awkward gap between the end of the festive family lunch and the start of the James Bond movie. In 1932 this was considered to be the best time for reaching most of the countries in the British Empire by short wave broadcasts from the radio transmitters in Britain. George V spoke to the Empire for two and a half minutes from a small office in Sandringham House and his words were heard by an estimated 20 million people around the world by the miracle of "wireless".

King George V His message was written by Rudyard Kipling and to read it, the King used a microphone encased in Australian walnut with a thick cloth covering the table to avoid the noise of rustling paper. His Majesty reflected on the closer relationships which the modern technology had made possible, saying, "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." In his diary for December 25, 1932, the King wrote, "I broadcasted a short message of 251 words to the whole empire from Francisï¿½ room." His address was later issued as a commercial recording on a 78 rpm disc. Daily Sketch, December 11, 1936 The tradition had begun, but George V was only to make three more Christmas Day broadcasts before his death early in 1936. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward VIII, but the new King was destined never to deliver such a message to his Empire.

It was 70 years ago this month, on December 11, 1936, that Edward VIII abdicated after less than a year as monarch. After Lady Jane Grey and Edward V, he became the third shortest-reigning monarch in Britainï¿½s history and the three are the only British monarchs never to have been crowned That year, there was no Christmas broadcast by the British monarch, now George VI. However, Christmas 1936 was fully celebrated by the fledgling BBC Television Service for the first time with its new high-definition 405 line transmissions which had been launched less than two months earlier. Radio Times, Christmas issue 1936 An hour of programmes began at 3pm with a demonstration of carving the turkey and an edition of Picture Page, while a second hour beginning at 9pm included carols, Cecil Lewis commentating on a "seasonal tour through the Empire" and a 25 minute Television Party. There was no Christmas message from the King for the next two years either. George VI made it clear that he did not want to carry on the broadcast, as he felt it to be so closely linked to his father in the minds of the people.

He explained, "I cannot aspire to take his place - nor do I think that you would wish me to carry on, unvaried, a tradition so personal to him". However, by Christmas 1939, Britain was three months into the Second World War and the King decided he should speak to his people. Dressed in the uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet, he delivered a landmark speech from Sandringham which had a profound effect on listeners. It concluded, "A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall be. If it brings continued struggle we shall remain undaunted. In the meantime I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I should like to say to you: I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, ï¿½Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.ï¿½ And he replied, ï¿½Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.ï¿½" George VI delivering the Christmas Day broadcast in 1944 His daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, made her first Christmas Day broadcast in 1952. She sat in the same chair at the same desk used by George V and George VI to deliver what was now described as a message to the Commonwealth, rather than the Empire. The Queen talked of her father who had died ten months earlier and of the tradition he had passed to her, as well as asking for the nationï¿½s prayers ahead of her Coronation the following summer. By the following Christmas, the Queen was in Auckland, New Zealand, so 1954 marked the only year when the monarchï¿½s Christmas Day broadcast has originated from outside the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II's first televised address Before 1957, the monarchï¿½s seasonal greetings were only heard, even on television. But on the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast, the Queen was seen as well.

To prepare herself for the first televised message, HM received coaching in how to address the camera from BBC announcer Sylvia Peters and, on the day, the broadcasting equipment was installed in the long library at Sandringham, ready for the live transmission. Her Majesty was seen by viewers sitting at a desk on which there were pictures of Prince Charles and Princess Anne, while Christmas cards were displayed in the background. She said, "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 ï¿½ It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you - a successor to the Kings and Queens of history ï¿½ who never really touches your personal lives. But now, at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my home." The live Christmas Day broadcast continued for the next two years, but since 1960, it has been pre-recorded. In the 1966 festive season, the British monarch first appeared somewhere she had never been seen before: on a Christmas stamp. Britain was later than many other countries in issuing a stamp designed specially for Christmas.

Spain, after all, had issued its first seasonal stamp in 1955. Britain's first Christmas stamps, 1966 Until the 1960s, the British Post Office maintained that it would be impossible to represent Christï¿½s birth on a stamp while maintaining the dominance of the monarch. But when Tony Benn became Postmaster General in 1965, he decided that Britain should finally have special Christmas stamps with a smaller silhouette of the Queenï¿½s head in the top right corner. He launched a competition for the designs on the childrenï¿½s TV programme "Blue Peter" and the winners were two six-year-old viewers - Tasveer Shemza, whose King Wenceslas appeared on the 3d (2 cï¿½ntimos) stamp, and James Berry, who drew the Snowman on the 1/6 (12 cï¿½ntimos) stamp. Spain's first Christmas stamp, 1955 1969 was the only year of her reign during which the Queen did not broadcast a Christmas message.

During the year, a documentary film by Richard Cawston, "Royal Family", had been shown by the BBC and she felt she had already been on television too much. Instead, the documentary was repeated on December 25, and the Queen released a written message to newspapers. However, the Christmas Morning Service from St. Georgeï¿½s Chapel, Windsor, was broadcast for the first time. But the public was not happy. The TV audience for the previous yearï¿½s message was estimated at 23 million in the UK alone, and many of these viewers wrote to the palace complaining about its absence. The broadcast was reinstated in 1970 and tradition was restored. In 1977, the people of Spain heard the first Christmas message from their new King, Juan Carlos I, which is broadcast every Christmas Eve on most television channels. Last year, however, the Organisation for Multilingualism criticised the King for delivering his message only in Spanish, instead of also using Catalan/Valencian, Galician and Basque, which, it claimed, are official languages of more than 40 percent of the Spanish population.

Queen Elizabethï¿½s message was first subtitled for the hard of hearing in 1979 and first appeared on the Internet in 1998. In 1992, the year of the "annus horribilis", the text of the message was leaked and published in a national newspaper on December 23, sparking a clampdown by the Palace on the early availability of the broadcast to radio and TV stations. The source of the leak was never traced. The Queen made her 50th broadcast three years ago while next year will mark the 75th anniversary of Britainï¿½s first Royal Christmas message in 1932, as well as the 30th anniversary of King Juan Carlosï¿½ first Christmas Eve address. The tradition started by George V, the first head of state in the world to broadcast to his people at Christmas, is continued. DAVE JAMIESON The first Christmas speech | History of government The first Christmas speech — No 10 guest historian series , Prime Ministers and No. 10 , The Monarchy Through one of the marvels of modern Science, I am enabled, this Christmas Day, to speak to all my peoples throughout the Empire.

I take it as a good omen that Wireless should have reached its present perfection at a time when the Empire has been linked in closer union. For it offers us immense possibilities to make that union closer still. King George V - Christmas Speech - 1932 These were the opening lines of the first Christmas speech broadcast by King George V in 1932, an institution that has now continued uninterrupted for eighty years. Yet securing agreement for the first Christmas message broadcast by a monarch was not as smooth as the King’s eventual delivery and, if it were not for efforts of the then Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, it might never have happened. Reluctant speaker By the 1920s radio was increasingly becoming the medium through which leaders could talk to their nations and, in some cases, their empires, with radio the norm in the US by this point. Inspired by this, John Reith, General Manager of the newly formed BBC, wrote to the King in 1923 to inquire whether he would be interested in ‘delivering a message to his people’ on a significant holiday such as Christmas, New Year or Easter.

Unfortunately, the King was a reluctant speech-giver – due to a self-perceived lack of oral talent – and also an unashamed technophobe. He politely declined this request, much to the BBC’s disappointment. The next year the BBC gave the King a radio set, which was gratefully received and regularly used, the King being a particular fan of the news service; but the set did little to encourage him to make a personal address. At the opening of various functions throughout the 1920s, such as the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, the King’s opening addresses were recorded by the BBC, with some attracting around 10 million listeners throughout the empire, a record for the period. However, despite his evident popularity with radio audiences, the King could not be persuaded to give a personal message to the population on Christmas Day. This was due largely to his belief that he lacked the sophistication and flair of other broadcasters, and as the message would be personal in nature he could not hide behind formality to combat his fears. Even his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, who favoured the idea (and whose advice the King trusted and mostly accepted) felt that pursuing a Christmas speech by the monarch was a lost cause.

Simple and honest All this changed with the appointment of Ramsay MacDonald as the first Labour Prime Minister in 1929, a man whose simplicity in approach the King admired and respected. MacDonald assuaged many of the King’s fears about a personal broadcast, saying that a simple, honest approach would be more than adequate for the task. The Prime Minister suggested that Rudyard Kipling could write the speech, thus relieving the King of another anxiety. However, it was the new Statute of Westminster, signed in 1931, that finally persuaded the King. This was the first step in transforming the Empire into the Commonwealth, as it effectively removed the dominion nations from Britain’s direct imperial control, thereby creating a federation of equals under the Crown. At this time of change and financial hardship, MacDonald explained to the King, the Monarchy was pivotal for maintaining unity. So, on Christmas Day 1932, as the people of the British Empire sat around their radios, the King entered their home – verbally at least – for the first time. The event had been widely trailed in the newspapers, the reports emphasising that the King would deliver a personal message to his people as opposed to a formal address – a novelty then.

The speech was advertised in one Australian newspaper as ‘proof of the innate solidarity of Empire’. From his naval days the King felt most comfortable in small rooms, so the speech was made from the box room under the stairs at Sandringham House and not in the grand drawing room where the mini-studio was set up again for the official photograph. Thick cloth coated the table, as the King was so nervous that his shaking hands caused the papers to rustle into the microphone. Despite his reluctance, reading from Kipling’s words the King proved proficient in the relatively new art of broadcasting. His gravelly voice was likened to that of a father speaking to his family, earning him the moniker Grandpa England, which was adopted by his granddaughter, our present Queen Elizabeth, along with many ordinary people, by the time of his Silver Jubilee three years later. Kipling words The King’s speech was widely acclaimed, not only for its delivery but also the majestic words of Kipling, which summed up the geographical vastness of the British Empire in 1932. It is often seen by historians as one of the great speeches of the twentieth century and is catalogued in the British Library.

Historians such as Kenneth Rose considered it a loss that after 1932, the monarch’s Christmas Speech was not penned by writers such as Kipling. The following year the task of writing transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury – popular opinion of which expressed none of the praise heaped on Kipling’s words. Despite the praise he received, the King and many courtiers expected the event to be a one-off. The Palace was concerned that annual speeches would reduce their importance to the people, while the King complained that, ‘his nerves in preparation for the event quite ruined his Christmas’. However, No.10 had a very different view, perceiving that the broadcast had brought the people of the Empire together to hear the voice of the man who after 1931, effectively held the Commonwealth together. Through the symbol of the Crown, the monarchy represented the centrepiece of the Commonwealth. MacDonald felt that a new tradition had been created and was keen for it to continue. Therefore, in the New Year, at his weekly meeting with the King, he raised the matter of the Christmas address.

Knowing that praise in the press for Kipling’s words would do little to win over the King, Macdonald appealed to his sense of tradition. Referring to the many great speeches of Queen Elizabeth I, MacDonald was reported to have said what a pity it was they went unrecorded. To this the King gave him an icy stare and said, ‘Damn Queen Elizabeth’. However, No.10 had a backup plan. They had received many letters from citizens around the Empire, including from Canada and Asia, expressing their pleasure at hearing the King at Christmas. When he learnt this, the King’s strong sense of duty persuaded him to repeat the exercise. Modern-day competition Thus the monarch’s Christmas Speech has become an annual institution that has continued every year since 1932 and maintains its popularity, despite modern-day competition from alternatives aping its style, from characters as diverse as Sharon Osbourne and Marge Simpson. Yet had Downing Street, and in particular Ramsay MacDonald, not so enthusiastically championed the BBC’s idea in 1932, the monarch’s speech might be one Christmas tradition we would be without.

A Point of View: The story of the Queen's Christmas speech - BBC News BBC News A Point of View: The story of the Queen's Christmas speech 28 December 2014 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images The British monarch's Christmas speech was originally to be a one-off event, but as historian David Cannadine explains, it has become one of the most important fixtures in the royal year. The Queen's latest Christmas message to the Commonwealth was the 62nd she has delivered during the course of her reign, and across that time, she's only missed a single broadcast, which was in 1969. That year, a special and revealing documentary, entitled Royal Family, had been shown in connection with the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and fearing the risks of over-exposure in the media, the Palace decided there would be no Christmas broadcast, and the Queen confined herself to issuing a brief written message instead. But with that one exception, she's been a permanent fixture in many people's homes and lives every 25 December since 1952, and there can't have been any other living figure who's been so constant and pervasive a Christmas presence during that time.

Since the Queen seems both determined and also likely to become the UK's longest-reigning monarch, it's almost inconceivable that any of her successors will deliver more Christmas messages than she has already made, and she has long since given many more than her three royal predecessors put together. Beginning in 1932, her grandfather, George V, broadcast every year, up to and including his last Christmas in 1935. But there was no royal message in 1936, because her uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated only weeks before Christmas, having delivered a very different kind of broadcast, explaining and trying to justify why he had renounced the throne. His reluctant but dutiful successor, George VI, the present monarch's father, preferred to stay quiet while things calmed down. His first Christmas broadcast as King was given in 1937, but he did not deliver another the following year, and it was only when he resumed in 1939 that the annual sequence really began, which has continued virtually uninterrupted ever since.

Find out more Image copyright bbc A Point of View is on Fridays on Radio 4 at 20:50 GMT and repeated Sundays, 08:50 GMT David Cannadine is a British historian, author and professor of history at Princeton University BBC Podcasts - A Point of View All the broadcasts made by George V and George VI went out on the wireless, and they were delivered live from Sandringham around 15:00 - with the exception of George VI's last message of 1951, which was recorded in advance, sentence by sentence, on account of his failing health. The Queen initially followed the same practice, broadcasting her first Christmas message in 1952 from the same desk and chair that her father and grandfather had used. Only in 1957, which was the 25th anniversary of George V's first seasonal greeting, did she deliver her festive greetings on television as well.

Two years later, when she was heavily pregnant with Prince Andrew, she confined herself to the wireless again, but since then, all her broadcasts have been televised, initially on the BBC, and from 1997 alternating between the BBC and ITN, with Sky News added to the rotation in 2011. Image copyright PA Image caption 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. At that time, the first director-general of the BBC, Sir John Reith, was a fervent monarchist, and during the 1920s he sought to associate the newest institution of the realm with the oldest, in what he hoped would be to the mutual benefit of the wireless and the Windsors. In 1924, the BBC had broadcast the speech that the King delivered to open the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, and thereafter George V's voice was sometimes heard on the airwaves on ceremonial occasions. But it was not until 1932 that he finally agreed to Reith's suggestion that he deliver a Christmas message to the whole of the British Empire.

Today, when we take instant global communication for granted, it's difficult to appreciate the sheer magic of the first Christmas broadcast For George V's subjects, spread across the globe, that first seasonal message was a kind of audible revelation. This was partly because the King had enlisted the help of Rudyard Kipling in preparing the text of his broadcast, and Kipling was a very accomplished wordsmith. But it was also because, although George V's public manner oscillated between gruffness and shyness, and while he was always nervous sitting in front of the microphone, he turned out to be a very able broadcaster, with a beautiful, resonant speaking voice. Harold Nicolson, the King's official biographer, would later describe it as being "strong, emphatic, vibrant, with undertones of sentiment, [but] devoid of all condescension, artifice or pose".

"I speak now," the King began, "from my home and from my heart to you all; to men and women so cut off by the snows or the desert or the sea that only voices out of the air can reach them." Today, when we take instant global communication for granted, it's difficult to appreciate the sheer magic and extraordinariness of this first Christmas broadcast. But when I visited Australia a few years ago, and found myself stopping over in a small, remote town in Tasmania, it didn't take much effort to imagine the sense of excitement and wonder that there must have been, as the King's subjects gathered round their wireless sets to listen to their sovereign addressing them as part of one vast imperial family, but doing so in the privacy of their own homes. Image copyright ALAMY Image caption King George V broadcasting to the British empire on Christmas Day 1935 in Sandringham The broadcast of 1932 was such a success that George V had no choice but to repeat the formula every Christmas for the remainder of his reign.

The result was that what had begun as a one-off innovation soon became an invented tradition, and there can be no doubt that it brought the king closer to his subjects than had been true of any monarch who had gone before him. Yet it also set a precedent which, once Edward VIII was gone, his successors have felt obliged to keep up, and for George VI, who was afflicted with a serious speech impediment, this meant that broadcasting live to his subjects from Sandringham on Christmas Day was a particularly demanding ordeal. Since 2010, when the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech was released, many people have learned about George VI's stammer for the first time, and also of the heroic attempts he made to conquer it, assisted by the Australian therapist Lionel Logue. The film ends, on an upbeat and triumphal note, with George VI delivering a rousing call to arms on the outbreak of World War Two, cheered on by the entire cabinet and by thousands of people gathered in front of Buckingham Palace. As the critics hastened to point out, there were many factual inaccuracies about this resolutely determined happy ending.

But the greatest error of all, in a film called The King's Speech, was that this was not the broadcast for which he was best known or by which he would be most fondly remembered. Image caption Colin Firth as George VI in The King's Speech In fact, George VI delivered his most famous speech a few months later, when he broadcast his first wartime message to his people at Christmas 1939. After the gaps of 1936 and 1938, it re-established the sovereign's message as an essential event on Christmas Day, and it did so largely because of these comforting words of faith, hope and reassurance with which the King concluded: "I said to the man, who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.'" The author of these final sentences was named Minnie Louise Haskins, a lecturer at the London School of Economics. In her spare time, she wrote devotional poetry, and it was from one such work that these words were taken.

They became a great favourite of the King, and of Queen Elizabeth, and also of many people who, like them, went through WW2. When George VI died in 1952, he was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor, where his widow - by then Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - would later join him. The memorial chapel that was specially created for them is bounded by fine wrought ironwork and some of the words to the side of it are taken from that first wartime Christmas broadcast. They read very simply: "The Gate of the Year." BBC - History - King George VI (pictures, video, facts & news) King George VI King George VI George VI became king suddenly following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, in 1936. He worked hard to adapt to this unexpected role, particularly during the difficult years of World War Two. Picture: King George VI making his radio broadcast to the nation after the outbreak of World War II, 3 September 1939. (Getty Images) Features in: The King's speech at the outbreak of World War II H.M. King George VI's speech from Buckingham Palace at the outbreak of World War II.

His Majesty King George VI delivers a speech at the outbreak of World War II. Speaking from Buckingham Palace, he addresses his people at home and overseas. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II Highlights from the Queen’s coronation in Westminster Abbey and the subsequent procession through the streets of London. Narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. (Footage: ITN Source/ITV Studios) Highlights from the Queen’s coronation in Westminster Abbey and the subsequent procession through the streets of London. Narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. (Footage: ITN Source/ITV Studios) The early life of the Queen Andrew Marr tells the story of the Queen’s happy childhood and her life as a young woman. He traces her life from her birth in 1926 until the death of her father King George VI in 1952. Andrew Marr tells the story of the Queen’s happy childhood and her life as a young woman. He traces her life from her birth in 1926 until the death of her father King George VI in 1952. The King's speech at the outbreak of World War II H.M. King George VI's speech from Buckingham Palace at the outbreak of World War II.

His Majesty King George VI delivers a speech at the outbreak of World War II. Speaking from Buckingham Palace, he addresses his people at home and overseas. 03/09/2011 Clive Anderson talks to Tony Blackburn, Geordie Greig, Terry O'Neill and Sharon Horgan. Clive Anderson is joined by Tony Blackburn, Geordie Greig, Terry O'Neill, Sharon Horgan and Jo Bunting. With music from Martin Simpson and Po' Girl. More information about: King George VI King George was born on 14 December 1895 at Sandringham in Norfolk, the second son of the Duke of York, later George V. He was christened Albert after his great-grandfather, Prince Albert. In 1909, went to Dartmouth Naval College and joined the Royal Navy - seeing action in the World War One Battle of Jutland - and then the Royal Air Force. In 1920, he was created Duke of York and began to take on royal duties. In 1923, he married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, youngest daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.

Following the abdication of his elder brother, Edward VIII, George was proclaimed king on 12 December 1936 and crowned in May the following year. He and the queen paid state visits to France in 1938, and to Canada and the United States in 1939, making George the first British monarch to enter the US. George supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement towards Germany and Italy. When Chamberlain resigned in May 1940, the king wished to replace him with Lord Halifax, but was persuaded to accept Winston Churchill, whose wartime leadership he then supported unreservedly. During the war George visited Allied armies on several battle fronts and toured the home front extensively. He also created the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger' - an award for courage for acts not carried out under fire from an enemy. The Royal family's refusal to leave Britain during the conflict and their active involvement in the war effort won them many admirers.

Although his symbolic leadership in Britain was crucial during World War Two, George's reign was perhaps most important for the accelerating evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations and the post-war transformation of Great Britain into a welfare state. His hereditary title of Emperor of India ceased in 1947 when India and Pakistan became separate independent countries. From 1948, his health deteriorated, and he died on 6 February 1952, a few months after undergoing an operation for lung cancer. His elder daughter Elizabeth succeeded him as monarch. Queen's Speech: history of the royal Christmas broadcast - Telegraph Christmas Queen's Speech: history of the royal Christmas broadcast The Queen's grandfather King George V delivered the first royal Christmas broadcast live on the radio from Sandringham more than 75 years ago. 2:46AM GMT 24 Dec 2010 He had reigned since 1910, but it was not until 1932 that he gave his first festive speech. He was unsure about using the relatively untried medium of the wireless, but eventually agreed and read a message composed by author Rudyard Kipling.

The original idea was suggested by Sir John Reith, the founding father of the BBC, to inaugurate the Empire Service, now the BBC World Service. The fixed time of 3pm each year was chosen in 1932 because it was considered the best for reaching most of the countries in the British Empire by short wave. The General Post Office was used to reach Australia, Canada, India, Kenya and South Africa. Related Articles Queen's Christmas Day message 25 Dec 2010 King George V's eldest son, who became King Edward VIII, never delivered a Christmas speech as his reign lasted less than a year, ending in abdication. There was no broadcast in 1936 or in 1938. King George VI, Edward's younger brother, made his first broadcast in December 1937 in which he thanked the nation and Empire for their support during the first year of his reign. It was the outbreak of war in 1939 which firmly established the tradition, when George VI sought to reassure people and boost morale.

Following her father's death, the Queen made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952 and her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957, live from Sandringham. She has delivered one every year except for 1969, when she decided the royals had been on TV enough that year following an unprecedented documentary the family made about their life. Her 1969 greeting took the form of a written address. Now the speech is available on the television, radio, internet, the Royal Channel on YouTube and in HD. The Queen does her speech in one take, usually recording it a couple of weeks before the 25th. Accompanying TV footage is gathered throughout the year. She writes her own message and each one has a religious framework and reflects current issues. The speech is one of the rare occasions when the Queen does not turn to the Government for advice and is able to voice her own views. While the Royal Family gathers together round the TV to watch the broadcast on Christmas Day, the Queen sometimes watches it alone, heading off to another room to scrutinise her message in private.

Question: Who was the first British monarch to broadcast a Christmas message to the nation?
Answer: George the Fifth