"Soviet Union. Royal Christmas Message The Queen's Christmas Message (also known as The King's Christmas Message in the reign of a male monarch, formally as Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech) is a broadcast made by the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms to the Commonwealth of Nations each Christmas. The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Empire Service. Since 1952, the message has been read by Elizabeth II; today, it is broadcast on television, radio, and the Internet via various providers. The idea for a Christmas message from the sovereign"
"British Empire was first proposed by the ""founding father"" of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), John Reith, in 1922 when he approached King George V about making a short broadcast on the newly created radio service. The King declined, however, believing that radio was mainly an entertainment. Reith approached the King again ten years later, in 1932, as a way to inaugurate the Empire Service (now the World Service) and the King finally agreed after being encouraged to do so by Queen Mary and Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. That year, George V read the first Royal Christmas Message; the King"
"bond tying the Commonwealth together. George's daughter, Elizabeth II, gave her first Christmas message to the Commonwealth of Nations from her study at Sandringham House, at 3:07 PM on 25 December 1952, some 11 months after her father's death. By 1957, the broadcast became televised, and, from then until 1996, was produced by the BBC; only in 1969 was no message given because a special documentary film, ""Royal Family"", had been made during the summer in connection with the investiture of the Prince of Wales. It was therefore decided not to do a broadcast at Christmas, but the Queen issued"
"was originally hesitant about using the relatively untested medium of radio, but was reassured after a summertime visit to the BBC and agreed to carry out the concept and read the speech from a temporary studio set up at Sandringham House. The broadcast was introduced from Ilmington Manor by 65-year-old Walton Handy, a local shepherd, with carols from the church choir and the bells ringing from the town church, and reached an estimated 20 million people in Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, South Africa, and the UK. While his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated just before his first Christmas as king, George"
"by one of the founders of the BBC. Delivered annually by the monarch, it was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1932. An alternative Christmas message was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1993. Broadcast from 1951 to 1960, radio comedy ""The Goon Show"", starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe, mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. The show has exerted considerable influence on British comedy and culture. As a film star Sellers in particular became influential to film actors by using different accents and guises and assuming multiple roles"
"Christmas. In the United Kingdom and on the Internet, broadcast of the Queen's Christmas message is embargoed until 15:00 GMT on 25 December. In other parts of the Commonwealth, the message is first broadcast in New Zealand at 18:06 local time by Radio New Zealand on RNZ National, then again at 18:50 by Television New Zealand on TVNZ1, in Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at 15:20 local time, and in Canada by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at noon local time on television, 15:50 local time on CBC Radio One and 11:50 on CBC Radio Two. Outside of the Commonwealth,"
"Christmas Eve National Speech The Christmas Eve National Speech () is a broadcast by the reigning King of Spain to Spain every Christmas since 1975. The speech is aired on all Spanish TV channels. During his reign, King Juan Carlos I usually covered the main problems of the nation, such as ETA. In 2004, the speech was highly related to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings; in 2006 the King discussed the need to become a united nation against terrorism (in implicit support of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's anti-terrorist policies) and he mentioned the increasing force of"
"immigrants in Spain and appreciated their contribution to the economy. Christmas Eve National Speech The Christmas Eve National Speech () is a broadcast by the reigning King of Spain to Spain every Christmas since 1975. The speech is aired on all Spanish TV channels. During his reign, King Juan Carlos I usually covered the main problems of the nation, such as ETA. In 2004, the speech was highly related to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings; in 2006 the King discussed the need to become a united nation against terrorism (in implicit support of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez"
"reduction from five sessions to three. The Christmas Lectures were first televised in 1936 on the BBC's fledgling Television Service. They were broadcast on BBC Two from 1966–1999 and Channel 4 from 2000–2004. In 2000 one of the lectures was broadcast live for the first time. Following the end of Channel 4's contract to broadcast the lectures, there were concerns that they might simply be dropped from scheduling as the channel was negotiating with the Royal Institution over potential changes to the format, while the BBC announced that ""The BBC will not show the lectures again, because it feels the"
"of King George III. In 1832, the future Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it. After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became more widespread throughout Britain. An image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle created a sensation when it was published in the ""Illustrated London News"" in 1848. A modified version of this image was published in the United States in 1850. By the 1870s, putting up a Christmas tree had become common in"
"Blackadder's Christmas Carol Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of ""Blackadder"", a parody of Charles Dickens' ""A Christmas Carol"". It is set between ""Blackadder the Third"" (1987) and ""Blackadder Goes Forth"" (1989), and is narrated by Hugh Laurie. Produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on BBC1 on 23 December 1988. Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), the Victorian proprietor of a ""moustache shop"", is the nicest man in England. He is everything that Ebenezer Scrooge was by the end of the original story: generous and kind to everybody, and sensitive to the misery of others. As a result, people"
"Alternative Christmas message The alternative Christmas message is a message broadcast by Channel 4 since 1993, as a sometimes humorous and sometimes serious alternative to the Royal Christmas Message of Queen Elizabeth II. Since 1993, Channel 4 has broadcast an ""alternative Christmas message"" usually featuring a contemporary, often controversial celebrity, delivering a message in the manner of Her Majesty. This tradition started by accident when, running a series of programmes on 'Christmas in New York', the channel invited Quentin Crisp to give an alternative message – playing on the pejorative term 'queen' meaning a very feminine male homosexual. In contrast"
"The Christmas Carol The Christmas Carol is a 1949 low-budget, black and white television special narrated by Vincent Price. Compressing the Charles Dickens classic story into a half-hour, it is stated to be ""the oldest extant straight adaptation of the story"" for television. It was originally produced as a syndicated production for airing on 22 stations across the United States on Christmas Day in 1949. It was sponsored by Magnavox and represented that company's first use of television advertising. In 1952 the show was acquired by Consolidated Television Sales for further syndication. The production is considered primitive by modern standards;"
"Royal Institution Christmas Lectures The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic each, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825, missing 1939–42 because of the Second World War. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all. The Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures were first held in"
"Raymond Baxter Raymond Frederic Baxter OBE (25 January 1922 – 15 September 2006) was an English television presenter and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of the BBC Television science programme ""Tomorrow's World"", continuing for 12 years, from 1965 to 1977. He also provided radio commentary at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the funerals of King George VI, Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten of Burma, and the first flight of Concorde. Baxter was born in Ilford in Essex. His father was a science teacher. He was educated at Ilford County High School, a grammar school"
"the actual birthday of the monarch (presently 21 April), the official birthday of the monarch (24 May), and the birthday of the royal consort (10 June). Each year since 1932, the monarch has delivered the Royal Christmas Message to the British Commonwealth (later the Commonwealth of Nations); originally broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation Empire Service, it is today shown in Canada on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television and radio. There are hundreds of places named for Canadian monarchs and members of the Royal Family all across Canada. No individual has been more honoured than Queen Victoria in the names"
"the same artist and company, is usually broadcast around the same time. Adaptations of novels from Charles Dickens are also common around Christmas time. Along with ""A Christmas Carol"" (the most popular due to its Christmas season setting, and the message portrayed), such as ""Bleak House"" (2005), ""Oliver Twist"" (2007) and ""Great Expectations"" (2011), among others. These adaptations usually featured all-star casts. Christmas Day begins at 12 at night with the showing of Midnight Mass on the BBC. In addition, HM Queen Elizabeth II annually broadcasts a 10-minute speech on Christmas Day at 3 p.m., charting her views of the"
"grandmother in 1843, sold at auction for £22,500. Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cole is credited with devising the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time, introducing the world's first commercial Christmas card in 1843. Henry Cole was born in Bath the son of Captain Henry Robert Cole, then of the 1st Dragoon Guards, and his wife Lætitia Dormer. He was sent in 1817 to"
"C-SPAN in the United States also first airs the broadcast at around 10:00 AM EST, around the same time the broadcast is made available to the public. In 1931, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands delivered her first Christmas message on the airwaves, which was also broadcast to the Dutch East Indies, Suriname and the other Dutch West Indies via shortwave radio station PCJJ. During the reign of her daughter Juliana, the Royal Christmas Message was to become an annual tradition. The Pope delivers a Christmas message to the world and heads of state of other countries have adopted the tradition"
"pieces of music from this special, as composed by Gold, were released on 21 March 2011 by Silva Screen Records. ""A Christmas Carol"" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on Christmas Day 2010. According to overnight figures, ""A Christmas Carol"" was tied with ""Come Fly with Me"" as the second most-watched programme on Christmas Day in the United Kingdom, behind ""EastEnders"", and with an average viewership of 10.3 million peaking at 10.7 million. The final rating for BBC One was 12.11, making the episode the fourth highest rated of the entire canon since the series was"
"studio director at the BBC. They had one daughter. Peters died on 26 July 2016, aged 90. Sylvia Peters Sylvia Lucia Petronzio (26 September 1925 – 26 July 2016), better known as Sylvia Peters, was an English actress, and from 1947 to 1958 a continuity announcer and presenter for BBC Television. She introduced the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and later advised the Queen as she prepared for her first televised Christmas Message in 1957. Peters was born in Highgate, north London, to Romelo Petronzio, an Italian who owned a clock-making business, and Ethel Edwards, an English ballet"
"symbolic of Scrooge's change of heart. The revival of the Christmas Carol began with William Sandys's ""Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern"" (1833), with the first appearance in print of ""The First Noel"", ""I Saw Three Ships"", ""Hark the Herald Angels Sing"" and ""God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"". In 1843 the first commercial Christmas card was produced by Henry Cole, leading to the exchange of festive greeting cards among the public. The movement coincided with the appearance of the Oxford Movement and the growth of Anglo-Catholicism, which led a revival in traditional rituals and religious observances. In the UK, the Christmas"
"look back at the first 10 years of TOTP, broadcast on 27 December. In 1975, the first of the two shows was broadcast prior to Christmas Day, airing on 23 December, followed by the traditional Christmas Day show two days later. The 1978 Christmas Day show was disrupted due to industrial action at the BBC, requiring a change in format to the broadcast. The first show, due to be screened on 21 December, was not shown at all because BBC1 was off the air. For Christmas Day, Noel Edmonds (presenting his last ever edition of TOTP) hosted the show from"
"are ""We Wish You a Merry Christmas"", '""O Come All Ye Faithful"", ""The First Noel"", ""God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen"", ""The Holly and the Ivy"", ""I Saw Three Ships"", ""Deck the Halls"", ""In the Bleak Midwinter"", ""Joy to the World"", ""Once in Royal David's City"", ""Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"", ""What Child Is This?"", ""Good King Wenceslas"", ""Here We Come A-Caroling"" and ""While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"". A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held in King's College Chapel, Cambridge was introduced in 1918 and first broadcast on the BBC in 1928. The service is broadcast around the world. The"
"States and European relations, and other world issues. King Juan Carlos built a tradition of presenting annual Christmas Eve National Speeches entitled ""Mensaje de S.M. Juan Carlos I,"" personal messages from himself as king to the nation which are broadcast by radio and television through various media outlets. King Juan Carlos usually referred to social or economic challenges facing the nation as well as positive messages of charity, good will, and religious faith. In 2004, the speech was highly related to the 2004 Madrid train bombings; in 2006 he talked about the need to become a united nation against terrorism"
"the first English monarch to be recorded as giving gifts of small silver coins to the poor when in 1213 he gave 13 pence to each of 13 poor men at a ceremony in Rochester—the number being symbolic of the Twelve Apostles together with either Jesus or an angel. Few details of the 13th century Maundy survive; they are known to have existed from records which show the spending necessary for the gifts to the poor. The monarch was not alone in performing the rituals of the Maundy service; Henry III's children assisted him as part of their political and"
"maintain on-air anonymity. In 1937, he was the commentator for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the first-ever BBC live outside television broadcast. The BBC had only taken delivery of its first Outside Broadcast unit which consisted of several vans two days before the Coronation. Despite no-one having any experience of operating it was placed at the top of Constitution Hill to catch the Royal Carriage as it went past. A message was sent to the King asking him to give a special wave for the camera. Grisewood was the commentator though as the number of television"
"with Christmas. The East Sussex cook Eliza Acton was the first to refer to it as ""Christmas Pudding"" in her bestselling 1845 book ""Modern Cookery for Private Families"". The pudding ""had the great merit"" of not needing to be cooked in an oven, something ""most lower class households did not have"". Throughout the colonial period, the pudding was a symbol of unity throughout the British Empire. In 1927, the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) wrote a letter to the Master of the Royal Household, requesting a copy of the recipe used to make the Christmas pudding for the royal family. The"
"Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cole is credited with devising the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time, introducing the world's first commercial Christmas card in 1843. Henry Cole was born in Bath the son of Captain Henry Robert Cole, then of the 1st Dragoon Guards, and his wife Lætitia Dormer. He was sent in 1817 to Christ's Hospital, and upon leaving school in 1823"
"4 and Radio 2 also play the National Anthem just before the 0700 and 0800 news bulletins on the actual and official birthdays of the Queen and the birthdays of senior members of the Royal Family. The UK's national anthem usually prefaces The Queen's Christmas Message (although in 2007 it appeared at the end, taken from a recording of the 1957 television broadcast), and important royal announcements, such as of royal deaths, when it is played in a slower, sombre arrangement. Frequently, when an anthem is needed for one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom at an international"
"The annual ""Nine Lessons and Carols"", broadcast from King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, has established itself a Christmas custom in the United Kingdom. It is broadcast outside the UK via the BBC World Service, and is also bought by broadcasters around the world. In the Byzantine Rite, Christmas Eve is referred to as Paramony (""preparation""). It is the concluding day of the Nativity Fast and is observed as a day of strict fasting by those devout Byzantine Christians who are physically capable of doing so. In some traditions, nothing is eaten until the first star appears in the evening"
"by the Hanoverians. Queen Victoria as a child made note of it in her diary for Christmas Eve 1832; the delighted 13-year-old princess wrote, ""After dinner ... we then went into the drawing-room near the dining-room ... There were two large round tables on which were placed two trees hung with lights and sugar ornaments. All the presents being placed round the trees.."". Since the first commercial Christmas card was produced in London in 1843, cards are sent in the weeks leading up to Christmas, many of which contain the English festive greeting ""Merry Christmas"". On Christmas Day, a public"
"to capture the solemnity of the moment. The ceremony was first broadcast by BBC Television in 1937 and again in 1938. Three EMI Super-Emitron cameras first used for the earliest outside broadcast of the Coronation Procession of King George VI in May 1937 were used, relayed via the BBC's Mobile Control Room scanner van, which two days earlier had also broadcast the Lord Mayor's Show for the first time. The BBC Television Service was suspended at the outbreak of World War II and the broadcast resumed in November 1946 when George VI unveiled the addition of (1939—MCMXXXIX; and 1945—MCMXLV) to"