For only the second time in history, a jubilee became the main focus of a Christmas speech. In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II’s 1977 royal Christmas broadcast was one of celebration and hope.
In 1977, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee marking twenty five years on the throne. She is only the second British monarch to have a Silver Jubilee with her grandfather, King George V, being the first. Although Queen Victoria marked a Golden Jubilee, she held no celebrations for her 25 years meaning Elizabeth II was the first queen regnant in Britain to have a Silver Jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth II began her address that year by sharing her amazement at the support her received during her Jubilee year, noting ”I shall never forget the scene outside Buckingham Palace on Jubilee Day. The cheerful crowd was symbolic of the hundreds of thousands of people who greeted us wherever we went in this Jubilee year- in twelve Commonwealth countries and thirty-six counties in the United Kingdom.”
Her speech also gives a great snapshot of what the Silver Jubilee year looked like for a lot of people as Queen Elizabeth spoke of the personal celebrations, sharing her happiness at ”the street parties and village fetes,… the mile upon mile of decorated streets and houses; these things suggest that the real value and pleasure of the celebration was that we all shared in it together.
The Jubilee had also seen Queen Elizabeth II tour the United Kingdom. In August 1977, she went to Northern Ireland for the first time in 11 years. This also formed part of her Christmas speech, as she said ”Nowhere is reconciliation more desperately needed than in Northern Ireland. That is why I was particularly pleased to go there. No one dared to promise an early end to the troubles but there is no doubt that people of goodwill in Northern Ireland were greatly heartened by the chance they had to share the celebrations with the rest of the nation and Commonwealth.”
And Queen Elizabeth II had a message of hope, too, noting ”the great resurgence of community spirit which has marked the celebrations has shown the value of the Christian ideal of loving our neighbours. If we can keep this spirit alive, life will become better for all of us.”
