Monarch's Message

26/12/2014 10 min

Listen "Monarch's Message"

Episode Synopsis

David Cannadine reflects on the history of the Queen's Christmas message. Following the success of the first broadcast in 1932 by the Queen's grandfather, King George V, "what had begun as a one-off innovation" soon "became an invented tradition". "There can be no doubt," says Cannadine, "it brought the King closer to his subjects than had been true of any monarch who had gone before him."Producer: Sheila Cook.