A Royal Christmas
How the Royal Family have celebrated Christmas over the centuries
Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas Broadcast
Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas broadcast became a part of Christmas festivities both in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Following the first Christmas Broadcast given by King George V in 1932, his granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, continued the tradition using the medium of radio, television and more recently the internet to speak directly to the public. She embraced advances in technology to deliver the broadcast and 2012 was the first year in which viewers could watch the queen in 3D. But despite these changes, Queen Elizabeth II's message during the Broadcast always sought to reaffirm the core values of human kindness and interaction, not just at Christmas but at all times of the year. The established Christmas tradition provided an opportunity for the queen to communicate her reflections about events that have unfolded over the course of the year and her hopes for the future both in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.