Category: Royal Family

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1967.

Every once in a while an event occurs which seems to mark a milestone in history.

For the Commonwealth, such an event was Canada’s centenary this year. A hundred years ago the confederation of the provinces of Canada laid the foundations for the country’s subsequent development.

Once a land of pioneers largely dependent on agriculture and raw materials, Canada has become also one of the leading industrial nations of the world.

Prince Philip and I went to Ottawa for the Centenary celebrations and it was a most moving occasion. Canada has every reason to feel proud of her achievements in the last hundred years.

Confederation as a formal act could have achieved little by itself. Only the determined will of a great variety of individuals and groups to co-operate for the greater national interest could have breathed life into the creation of the Fathers of Confederation.

The future of Canada as a great and prosperous country depends just as much on the will of the present generation to work together. It is for them to continue and expand the process of development which began with such high hopes one hundred years ago.

Nothing has demonstrated this more forcefully than Expo ’67, the remarkable international exhibition staged with such dramatic effect on a series of man-made islands in the St. Lawrence River.

The theme of Expo was ‘Man in his World’, and the lasting impression which I took away with me from Canada’s Centennial and Expo ’67 is the degree of unity in outlook among the diverse nations, creeds and races of the world.

The Commonwealth is a system which is in a constant process of change and development. This was brought home to me vividly when I revisited Malta only a month ago.

When I first went to the islands, they were a colony and my husband was serving with the Mediterranean Fleet. Today Malta is independent, with the Crown occupying the same position as it does in the other self-governing countries of which I am Queen.

This is the opening of a new and challenging chapter for the people of Malta and they are entering it with determination and enthusiasm.

Great national events can stir the imagination, but so can individual actions. Few people can have attracted so much universal attention as Sir Francis Chichester during his epic journey in Gypsy Moth.

I am sure that the reason his great feat of seamanship so warmed our hearts was that we recognised in his enterprise and courage the very qualities which have played such a large part in British history and which we in these islands need just as much today and for the future.

Let there be no doubt that Britain is faced with formidable problems, but let there also be no doubt she will overcome them. Determined and well-directed effort by a people who for centuries have given ample evidence of their resources of character and initiative, must bring its reward.

I am glad to say that contacts at all levels between Commonwealth countries continue to grow, and I have been delighted to welcome Commonwealth prime ministers and leaders in various walks of life.

Among the people who attract the greatest attention are visiting sportsmen and athletes. Cricket teams from India and Pakistan braved the vagaries of the English summer, and the redoubtable All-Blacks from New Zealand have made a solid impact on British rugby footballers.

Kenya sent us her great runner Keino. I hope many more sportsmen from Africa will take part in competitions and will establish new contacts between Africa and the rest of the world.

I have myself made many visits to other Commonwealth and overseas countries and every one was a journey of discovery. I am therefore particularly pleased that is it possible for so many young people and students to enjoy the experience of travel, to give service and to make new friends abroad.

My two elder children came back from the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica enchanted with the adventure, the kindness of the people, and the opportunity to meet so many athletes from every part of the Commonwealth.

For my son this came at the end of a period in Australia which he would not have missed for anything and where the exciting challenges and opportunities deeply impressed him.

In October this year, I took my son and daughter with me to the Opening of Parliament at Westminster. The Opening of Parliament is not just a ritual. It should remind us that Parliament symbolises the nation and the national interest.

It should also remind us that we believe in government by consent and that our system can only work if we all want it to work and feel that we have some part in it. Democratic government is a tradition we all share and which is the ideal of all the members of our association of nations.

Modern communications make it possible for me to talk to you in your homes and to wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. These techniques of radio and television are modern, but the Christmas message is timeless.

You may have heard it very often but in the end, no matter what scientific progress we make, the message will count for nothing unless we can achieve real peace and encourage genuine goodwill between individual people and the nations of the world.

Every Christmas I am sustained and encouraged by the happiness and sense of unity which comes from seeing all the members of my family together.

I hope and pray that, with God’s help, this Christmas spirit of family unity will spread and grow among our Commonwealth family of nations.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1968.

Christmas is a Christian festival which celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace. At times it is almost hidden by the merry making and tinsel, but the essential message of Christmas is still that we all belong to the great brotherhood of man.

This idea is not limited to the Christian faith. Philosophers and prophets have concluded that peace is better than war, love is better than hate and that mankind can only find progress in friendship and co-operation.

Many ideas are being questioned today, but these great truths will continue to shine out as the light of hope in the darkness of intolerance and inhumanity.

The words ‘the brotherhood of man’ have a splendid ring about them, but the idea may seem too remote to have any practical meaning in this hard and bustling age.

Indeed it means nothing at all unless the brotherhood, starting with individuals, can reconcile rival communities, conflicting religions, differing races and the divided and prejudiced nations of the world.

If we truly believe that the brotherhood of man has a value for the world’s future, then we should seek to support those international organisations which foster understanding between people and between nations.

The British people together have achieved great things in the past and have overcome many dangers, but we cannot make further progress if we resurrect ancient squabbles.

The nations belonging to the Commonwealth have in their hands a well-tried framework for mutual help and co-operation. It would be short-sighted to waste this modest step towards brotherhood because we are too busy with the dissensions of the moment.

Every individual and every nation have problems, so there is all the more reason for us to do our utmost to show our concern for others.

Rich or poor, we all depend upon the work and skill of individual men and women, particularly those in industry and production who are the creators of wealth and prosperity. We depend on new knowledge, invention and innovation, practical improvements and developments, all of which offer us a better life.

Yet we should not be obsessed by material problems. We must also be sure that we remain spiritually alive. Everything we do now is helping to shape the world in which our children are going to live.

Our young people need all the help and opportunities we can give them to prepare them for the responsibilities which they will soon have to carry.

Today I have spoken of ‘the brotherhood of man’ and the hope it holds out for the world. This should not remain a vague thought nor an abstract idea. Each of us can put it into practice by treating one another with kindness and consideration at all times and in spite of every kind of provocation.

Christmas is the festival of peace. It is God’s will that it should be our constant endeavour to establish ‘Peace on earth, goodwill towards men’.

I hope you all have a very happy Christmas and every good fortune in the New Year.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1969.

I have received a great number of kind letters and messages of regard and concern about this year’s break with the usual broadcast at Christmas and I want you all to know that my good wishes are no less warm and personal because they come to you in a different form.

In a short time the 1960s will be over but not out of our memories. Historians will record them as the decade in which men first reached out beyond our own planet and set foot on the moon, but each one of us will have our own special triumphs or tragedies to look back on.

My own thoughts are with my older children who are entering the service of the people of this country and the Commonwealth. It is a great satisfaction and comfort to me and my husband to know that they have won a place in your affections.

We are all looking forward to our visit to Australia and New Zealand for the Cook Bi-centenary celebrations, and also to Fiji and Tonga. Later next year we hope to see something of the fascinating development of Northern Canada.

It is only natural that we should all be dazzled and impressed by the triumphs of technology, but Christmas is a festival of the spirit. At this time our concern is particularly for the lonely, the sick and the elderly. I hope they will all feel the warmth and comfort of companionship and that all of you will enjoy a very happy Christmas with your families and friends.

God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1970.

Every year we are reminded that Christmas is a family festival; a time for reunion and a meeting point for the generations.

This year I am thinking of rather a special family – a family of nations – as I recall fascinating journeys to opposite ends of the world.

During the course of these visits we met and talked with a great number of people in every sort of occupation, and living in every kind of community and climate. Yet in all this diversity they had one thing in common: they were all members of the Commonwealth family.

Early this year we went to Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia in Britannia. We were following the path taken in 1770 by that great English discoverer, Captain Cook.

A little later in the year we were in Canada, still in the Commonwealth, visiting the North-west Territories and Manitoba for their centenaries.

Among people who are so essentially New Zealanders, Canadians or Australians, it struck me again that so many of them still have affectionate and personal links with the British Isles.

Wherever I went among people living in the busy industrial towns or on the stations and farms of the far outback, I met newcomers who reminded me that these links between our countries are renewed every year.

In Canada we met some of the older inhabitants – Indians – people whose ancestors were there for generations before the Europeans came. And further north still live the Eskimos, some of the most interesting people that we met during our travels this year. They too belong to the Commonwealth family, this remarkable collection of friendly people of so many races.

Later in the year, representatives from 42 different parts of the world gathered to attend the Commonwealth Games. There are many unpublicised meetings, but it is not often that the Commonwealth is able to get together for a great public ceremony.

On this occasion it was sport that brought them to Scotland, and they came to compete and to enjoy themselves. We entertained them all in the garden of our home in Edinburgh, and I was very conscious that each of the athletes I met represented a country as different and interesting as those I had been able to visit during the year.

Never before has there been a group of independent nations linked in this way by their common history and continuing affection.

Too often we hear about the Commonwealth only when there is bad news about one of its members, or when its usefulness or its very existence is questioned. Britain and other members responded generously after the terrible disaster in East Pakistan, but the fellowship of the Commonwealth does not exist only at such unhappy times.

Many of us here in Britain have relatives living in other Commonwealth countries, and there are many who were born overseas living here. Because it is Christmas we are probably thinking of them now. It is these personal contacts which mean so much.

The strength of the Commonwealth lies in its history and the way people feel about it. All those years through which we have lived together have given us an exchange of people and ideas which ensures that there is a continuing concern for each other.

That, very simply, is the message of Christmas – learning to be concerned about one another; to treat your neighbour as you would like him to treat you; and to care about the future of all life on earth.

These matters of the spirit are more important and more lasting than simple material development. It is a hard lesson, but I think that we in the Commonwealth have perhaps begun to understand it.

I wish you all a merry Christmas. God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1971.

Christmas is the time for families and for children, and it’s also a time when we realise that another year is coming to an end.

As the familiar pattern of Christmas and the New Year repeats itself, we may sometimes forget how much the world about us has been changing.

It was 39 years ago that my grandfather, King George V, gave the first of his Christmas Broadcasts. He spoke about a future which is now the past. Today it is our turn to think about the future.

Many of you who are listening are able, like me, to enjoy this Christmas with your families, and your children can enjoy the day as all children should. But tragically, there are many millions of others for whom this cannot be the same. Our thoughts and prayers should be for them.

Our children will be living in a world which our work and deeds have shaped for them. We cannot possibly tell what changes the next 40 years will bring. We do know that we are passing on to our children the power to change their whole environment.

But we also leave them with a set of values which they take from our lives and from our example. The decisions they take and the sort of world they pass on to their children could be just as much affected by those values as by all the technological wonders of the age.

The Christmas message is really one for all seasons and not just for one day of the year. If we can show this by our lives and by our example, then our contribution as parents will be just as important as any made by scientists and engineers.

Perhaps we can then look for the real peace on earth, and the powers which men have harnessed will be used for the benefit of our fellow men.

I hope this Christmas Day is bringing to many of you peace and happiness, and for everyone the hope of this to come. May God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1972.

My whole family has been deeply touched by the affection you have shown to us when we celebrated our Silver Wedding, and we are especially grateful to the many thousands who have written to us and sent us messages and presents.

One of the great Christian ideals is a happy and lasting marriage between man and wife, but no marriage can hope to succeed without a deliberate effort to be tolerant and understanding. This doesn’t come easily to individuals and it certainly doesn’t come naturally to communities or nations.

We know only too well that a selfish insistence upon our rights and our own point of view leads to disaster. We all ought to know by now that a civilised and peaceful existence is only possible when people make the effort to understand each other.

Looking at the world, one might be forgiven for believing that many people have never heard of this simple idea. Every day there are reports of violence, lawlessness, and the disregard for human life.

Most of this is excused on purely selfish grounds. I know there are millions of kindly people throughout the world who are saddened with me for all those who suffer from these outrages.

In the United Kingdom we have our own particular sorrows in Northern Ireland and I want to send a special message of sympathy to all those men, women and children who have suffered and endured so much.

But there is a light in this tragic situation. The people are steadfastly carrying on their ordinary business in their factories and places of work.

Voluntary workers, both in and out of uniform, have struggled to keep humanity and commonsense alive. The social services have done their job magnificently. The forces of law and order continue their thankless task with the utmost fortitude in the face of appalling provocation.

We must admire them greatly for their patience and restraint.

I ask you all to join me in praying that the hearts and minds of everyone in that troubled Province may be touched with the spirit of Christmas and the message of brotherhood, peace and goodwill. May tolerance and understanding release the people from terror and put gladness in the place of fear.

But I am speaking today to all the peoples of the Commonwealth. In this unique organisation, we are fortunate in having endless opportunities for co-operation.

Through its informal structure we have created a web of relationships between peoples of many races and creeds and now between a great number of sovereign independent states.

I have visited almost all of the 32 independent Commonwealth countries, and we are looking forward to going back to Canada and Australia next year. I know from this personal experience how much the Commonwealth is valued by its members.

Britain is about to join her neighbours in the European Community and you may well ask how this will affect the Commonwealth.

The new links with Europe will not replace those with the Commonwealth. They cannot alter our historical and personal attachments with kinsmen and friends overseas. Old friends will not be lost; Britain will take her Commonwealth links into Europe with her.

Britain and these other European countries see in the Community a new opportunity for the future. They believe that the things they have in common are more important than the things which divide them, and that if they work together not only they, but the whole world will benefit.

We are trying to create a wider family of Nations and it is particularly at Christmas that this family should feel closest together.

Christmas is above all a time of new life. A time to look hopefully ahead to a future when the problems which face the world today will be seen in their true perspective.

I leave with you the old message, “On earth peace; goodwill toward men”. No one has ever offered a better formula and I hope that its simple truth may yet take hold of the imagination of all mankind.

God bless you and a happy Christmas to you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1973.

It is now 21 years since I first broadcast a Christmas Message to the Commonwealth. Then our two elder children were only four and two.

Now, our daughter joins us for Christmas with her husband and we are celebrating the festival this year with the memories of their wedding very much in our minds.

We are constantly being told that we live in a changing world and that we need to adapt to changing conditions. But this is only part of the truth and I am sure that all parents seeing their children getting married are reminded of the continuity of human life.

That is why, I think, that at weddings all friends and relations, and even complete strangers, can stop worrying for a moment and share in the happiness of the couple who are getting married.

I am glad that my daughter’s wedding gave such pleasure to so many people just at a time when the world was facing very serious problems.

People all over the world watched the wedding on television, but there were still many in London on the day, and their warmth and enthusiasm ensured it was an occasion my family will never forget.

Earlier this year, I went to Canada for a different sort of ‘family occasion’. This was the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government, and here, I was reminded of the importance of human relationships in world affairs, and how membership of the Commonwealth has a subtle influence on the relationships between its leaders.

I was impressed by the spirit which brought together so many leaders from such different countries, and enabled them to discuss constructively matters which concern us all as friends.

Those of you who are surrounded by friends – or, of course, who are members of a happy family – know this makes life much easier.

Everything – the good and the bad – can be shared, but it is too easy for us to forget those who are not so fortunate.

However, there are many people of all ages who go out to help the old and the lonely, the sick and the handicapped. I am sure that, in so doing, they find the real happiness that comes from serving and thinking of others.

I believe that Christmas should remind us that the qualities of the human spirit are more important than material gain. Christ taught love and charity and that we should show humanity and compassion at all times and in all situations.

A lack of humanity and compassion can be very destructive – how easily this causes diversions within nations and between nations. We should remember instead how much we have in common and resolve to give expression to the best of our human qualities, not only at Christmas, but right through the year.

In this Christmas spirit let us greet all our fellow men and join together in this festival of tolerance and companionship.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1974.

There can be few people in any country of the Commonwealth who are not anxious about what is happening in their own countries or in the rest of the world at this time.

We have never been short of problems, but in the last year everything seems to have happened at once. There have been floods and drought and famine: there have been outbreaks of senseless violence. And on top of it all the cost of living continues to rise – everywhere.

Here in Britain, from where so many people of the Commonwealth came, we hear a great deal about our troubles, about discord and dissension and about the uncertainty of our future.

Perhaps we make too much of what is wrong and too little of what is right. The trouble with gloom is that it feeds upon itself and depression causes more depression.

There are indeed real dangers and there are real fears and we will never overcome them if we turn against each other with angry accusations.

We may hold different points of view but it is in times of stress and difficulty that we most need to remember that we have much more in common than there is dividing us.

We have the lessons of history to show that the British people have survived many a desperate situation when they acted together.

People in a crowd may seem oblivious of each other. Yet if you look at your neighbours you will see other people with worries and difficulties probably greater than your own. It is time to recognise that in the end we all depend upon each other and that we are therefore responsible for each other.

Fortunately over the centuries we have devised a way of sharing this responsibility, a uniquely effective system for bringing progress out of conflict.

We have developed Parliamentary Government by which the rights and freedom of the people are maintained. It allows change to take place temperately and without violence. And when time demands, it can reflect and give a voice to the determination and resolve of the Nation.

This system, this product of British genius, has been successfully exported to the world wide Commonwealth.

This year I have opened Parliament four times: in New Zealand, in Australia, and twice the Mother of Parliaments in Westminster. I suspect this may be a record, but what impressed me was that the system itself flourishes thousands of miles away and this alone should give us confidence.

You may be asking what can we do personally to make things better?

I believe the Christmas message provides the best clue. Goodwill is better than resentment, tolerance is better than revenge, compassion is better than anger, above all a lively concern for the interests of others as well as our own.

In times of doubt and anxiety the attitudes people show in their daily lives, in their homes, and in their work, are of supreme importance.

It is by acting in this spirit that every man, woman and child can help and ‘make a difference’.

In Britain I am sure it could make all the difference. We are an inventive and tenacious people and the comradeship of adversity brings out the best in us. And we have great resources, not just those of character but in our industry and trade, in our farms and in the seas around our shores.

My message today is one of encouragement and hope.

Christmas on this side of the equator comes at the darkest time of the year: but we can look forward hopefully to lengthening days and the returning sun.

The first Christmas came at a time that was dark and threatening, but from it came the light of the world.

I wish you all a happy Christmas.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1975.

Every year I have this special opportunity of wishing you a happy Christmas. I like to think I am speaking to each child who can see or hear me, each woman, each man in every country of the Commonwealth.

Christmas is a festival which brings us together in small groups, a family group if we are lucky. Today we are not just nameless people in a crowd. We meet as friends who are glad to be together and who care about each other’s happiness.

Nowadays this is a precious experience. So much of the time we feel that our lives are dominated by great impersonal forces beyond our control, the scale of things and organisations seems to get bigger and more inhuman.

We are horrified by brutal and senseless violence, and above all the whole fabric of our lives is threatened by inflation, the frightening sickness of the world today.

Then Christmas comes, and once again we are reminded that people matter, and it is our relationship with one another that is most important.

For most of us – I wish it could be for everyone – this is a holiday, and I think it’s worth reminding ourselves why. We are celebrating a birthday – the birthday of a child born nearly 2,000 years ago, who grew up and lived for only about 30 years.

That one person, by his example and by his revelation of the good which is in us all, has made an enormous difference to the lives of people who have come to understand his teaching. His simple message of love has been turning the world upside down ever since. He showed that what people are and what they do, does matter and does make all the difference.

He commanded us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, but what exactly is meant by ‘loving ourselves’? I believe it means trying to make the most of the abilities we have been given, it means caring for our talents.

It is a matter of making the best of ourselves, not just doing the best for ourselves.

We are all different, but each of us has his own best to offer. The responsibility for the way we live life with all its challenges, sadness and joy is ours alone. If we do this well, it will also be good for our neighbours.

If you throw a stone into a pool, the ripples go on spreading outwards. A big stone can cause waves, but even the smallest pebble changes the whole pattern of the water. Our daily actions are like those ripples, each one makes a difference, even the smallest.

It does matter therefore what each individual does each day. Kindness, sympathy, resolution, and courteous behaviour are infectious. Acts of courage and self-sacrifice, like those of the people who refuse to be terrorised by kidnappers or hijackers, or who defuse bombs, are an inspiration to others.

And the combined effect can be enormous. If enough grains of sand are dropped into one side of a pair of scales they will, in the end, tip it against a lump of lead.

We may feel powerless alone but the joint efforts of individuals can defeat the evils of our time. Together they can create a stable, free and considerate society.

Like those grains of sand, they can tip the balance. So take heart from the Christmas message and be happy.

God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1976.

Christmas is a time for reconciliation. A time not only for families and friends to come together but also for differences to be forgotten.

In 1976 I was reminded of the good that can flow from a friendship that is mended. Two hundred years ago the representatives of the thirteen British Colonies in North America signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

This year we went to America to join in their Bicentennial celebrations. Who would have thought 200 years ago that a descendent of King George III could have taken part in these celebrations? Yet that same King was among the first to recognise that old scores must be settled and differences reconciled, and the first United States Ambassador to Britain declared that he wanted “the old good nature and the old good humour restored”.

And restored they were. The United States was born in bitter conflict with Britain but we didn’t remain enemies for long. From our reconciliation came incalculable benefits to mankind and a partnership which, together with many countries of the Commonwealth, was proved in two world wars and ensured that the light of liberty was not extinguished.

King George III never saw the Colonies he lost. My father, King George VI, was the first British Sovereign to see the famous skyline of Manhattan and to visit the rich and vibrant country that lies beyond it.

Wherever we went the welcome was the same, all the way to Boston, where the first shots in the war between Britain and America were fired.

Reconciliation, like the one that followed the American War of Independence, is the product of reason, tolerance and love, and I think that Christmas is a good time to reflect on it.

It is easy enough to see where reconciliation is needed and where it would heal and purify, obviously in national and international affairs, but also in homes and families.

It is not something that is easy to achieve. But things that are worthwhile seldom are, so it is encouraging to know that there are many people trying to achieve it.

A few weeks ago, for instance, I met in my home a group of people who are working for better understanding between people of different colour, different faiths and different philosophies – and who are trying to solve the very real problems of community relations.

Another shining example is the peace movement in Northern Ireland. Here Roman Catholics and Protestants have joined together in a crusade of reconciliation to bring peace to the Province.

Next year is a rather special one for me and I would like my Silver Jubilee year also to become a special one for people who find themselves the victims of human conflict.

The gift I would most value next year is that reconciliation should be found wherever it is needed. A reconciliation which would bring peace and security to families and neighbours at present suffering and torn apart.

Remember that good spreads outwards and every little does help. Mighty things from small beginnings grow as indeed they grew from the small child of Bethlehem.

I believe there is another thought from which we can draw encouragement. If there is reconciliation – if we can get the climate right – the good effects will flow much more quickly than most people would believe possible.

Those who know the desert know also how quickly it can flower when the rains come. But who in Britain who saw the parched earth and empty reservoirs last summer would have believed that the grass would grow so strong, so green and so soon when the drought ended? When the conflict stops, peace can blossom just as quickly.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and may the New Year bring reconciliation between all people.