The video above is the Queen’s annual Christmas Broadcast to the UK and The Commonwealth, and this year was a personal repeat of last year: I saw it when it was broadcast on New Zealand’s TV One, and not on YouTube. Just like last year, I was at home, with my Christmas Day festivities finished, and had the TV on in time to watch the broadcast. That seldom happened before to last year.
I thought she did a very good job this year, but when she talked about the loss of her “beloved Philip”, to me she seemed the most human. She mentioned how she only now really understood how holidays can be difficult for people mourning the loss of a loved one. I knew exactly what she meant because until I lost my own beloved husband, I didn't truly understand, either.
There was even a bit of her characteristic dry humour when she said, “as long as the tune is well-known”, which seemed to me like she was making a good-natured joke about people unable to carry a tune. Or, not. It doesn't actually matter. Personally, though, I thought that was a bit funnier when the carol played at the end had an arrangement of the song I’d never heard before.
In any case, that’s another Christmas tradition, the Queen’s Broadcast, completed.
Previously:
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2020
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2019
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2018
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2017 (and 1957, too…)
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2016
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast 2015
Previous years’ broadcasts are no longer available.
2 comments:
One of my EOY traditions is to watch the Queen's broadcast on Arthur's blog.
And that version of O Little Town Of Bethlehem is in some version of our hymnal.
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