It’s proving to be a very different Christmas in more ways than one for many and the Queen is no exception. This year, the contents of her Christmas Day speech will be kept secret until the moment it is broadcast.
Her Majesty usually pre-records her Christmas Day message and in previous years, snippets of the speech have been shared ahead of December 25th. However, this has led to complaints from some and that has been taken into account as the decision was made about whether to offer any preview of this year’s Christmas Day message.
Instead, everyone will have to wait until 3pm, UK time, on December 25th 2020 to find out what the Queen is going to say. This is one of her most highly anticipated Christmas Day messages and comes at the end of a year in which Her Majesty has made two extraordinary broadcasts. In April 2020, she made a special speech offering hope and reassurance at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and in May there was another broadcast to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
In another modern move, this year’s Christmas Day speech will also be available on Alexa for the first time. But you’ll still have to wait until the clock strikes three. At the exact moment the Queen’s Speech begins on TV and radio, Alexa users will be able to ask their device to ”play the Queen’s Christmas Day message”.
The festive broadcast is a tradition that goes back to 1932 when the Queen’s grandfather, King George V, gave the first Christmas Day speech via radio. This year’s message will be recorded at Windsor Castle where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are staying as the pandemic continues.