The setting could not be more poignant. King Charles III will deliver his first Christmas message to the nation from St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where his mother was buried just a few months ago.
In the broadcast, he will pay tribute to the late Queen, who gave her first Christmas address by radio 70 years ago and started the tradition of televised messages in 1957.
The contents of the King’s first Christmas speech, recorded on December 13, are being kept under tight wraps but will be eagerly anticipated. The deliberate choice of venue, where his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh, is also laid to rest, sends out the strongest possible signal of the King’s bond with his parents and his commitment to their values.
St George’s Chapel was also the location for the Service of Prayer and Dedication following his second marriage to the now Queen Consort in 2005.
In the only publicity photograph released so far, the King is pictured standing to deliver his speech in the chapel’s Quire. He is wearing a favourite bold blue suit (likely made by his preferred Mayfair tailor), which he has worn on many previous occasions, including the presidential visit of Donald Trump in 2019.
The late Queen Elizabeth II used a variety of locations over the years. Her first televised addresses were broadcast live from Sandringham, where the Royal family traditionally enjoys Christmas, while in 1999 the late Queen marked the end of the millennium with a message also broadcast from St George’s Chapel.
During her reign, she also pre-recorded messages from the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace and even the Royal Albert Hall, but in recent years had confined herself to sitting behind a desk. In 2003, her message was filmed at Combermere Barracks in Windsor, entirely on location, for the first time.
In the late Queen’s first Christmas speech in 1952, the BBC report at the time noted that Her Majesty had “used the same desk and chair as her father King George VI and his father King George V had done”. In the message, she asked the public to pray for her on her Coronation day the following spring. It will be notable if the present King requests the same of his subjects 70 years on.
The choice of the chapel in some ways avoids the awkward problem of the artefacts on display on a desk or in the background of any sitting room or study.
Royal watchers will be scrutinising this year’s speech for any mention – or not – of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have gone to war with the Royal family over their Netflix documentary and a soon-to-be-published autobiography. By avoiding a desk, viewers will not be able to pass judgment on the prominence or otherwise of photographs of his youngest son, his bride and their children, who now live in effective exile in California.
When the King made his first public address to the nation, the day after his mother’s death, he went out of his way to “express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas”. But relations have deteriorated further since then.
But the new King will praise his mother handsomely. Her committal service was held at St George’s Chapel and she was laid to rest in the George VI Memorial Chapel, within St George’s, with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh. The chapel Quire was where the Royal family sat during the committal service, watched by a worldwide audience of hundreds of millions.
Following the Queen’s death, King Charles spoke movingly of his “beloved mother”, telling the nation in September: “We owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother; for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example.”
During this year’s Christmas broadcast, the chapel’s choir will perform a carol and sing the national anthem. In the background is the chapel Christmas tree decorated with ornaments made from sustainable materials including paper and glass as well as natural products such as pine cones.
The King has been a campaigning environmentalist for several decades and choosing sustainable decorations only emphasises his years spent promoting a green agenda while still heir to the throne.
Following the recording of the festive address, the Christmas tree was re-used by St George’s Chapel in the Dean’s Cloister for visitors to enjoy.
The broadcast was produced by BBC Studios Events, ahead of ITV whose turn it was to record the King’s first festive address under a rotating producer system between the BBC, ITV and Sky News. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the decision was taken as the BBC had “experience of shooting in St George’s Chapel this year”.
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