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The coronation revisited, without coronation. The King focused yesterday’s Christmas broadcast on the events of May 6 but with emphasis on service to others rather than the great ceremony.
So, instead of seeing again the Archbishop of Canterbury holding aloft the Crown of St Edward, or the hordes of world leaders gathered, we remembered those who had made this a coronation very different from all its predecessors.
“My wife and I were delighted when hundreds of representatives of that selfless army of people – volunteers who serve their communities in so many ways and with such distinction – were able to join us at Westminster Abbey,” the King observed, of shots the 400 British Empire Medal holders who were invited to the Abbey in May. ‘They are an essential backbone of our society. His presence meant a lot to both of us and emphasized the significance of the Coronation itself: above all, a call to us all to serve one another.’
At your service: The King’s TV address at Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day
The coronation revisited, without coronation. The King focused yesterday’s Christmas broadcast on the events of May 6 but with emphasis on service to others rather than the great ceremony
Similarly, the traditional collage of scenes from across the royal year made no reference to the dazzling Coronation concert at Windsor Castle that followed the second day of that long weekend. Instead, we remember the third day, when the focus was on ‘Big Help Out’, that national festival of volunteering. Hence the broadcast included images of the Prince and Princess of Wales and her children helping with a Scout project in Slough. We also saw the King and Queen at the Coronation Garden in Belfast and at the launch of the Coronation Food Project last month.
As expected, the broadcast included a green-tinged nod to the need to “care for the Earth for the sake of our children’s children.” We also heard a call to “protect each other” during “a time of increasingly tragic conflict.” In alluding to our “Abrahamic family of religions and other belief systems across the Commonwealth and the world at large”, the King clearly had developments in the Middle East in mind.
He thanked “all who see and seek the good in others” and praised those who show “care and compassion.” Some might say that by inviting the Duchess of York to join yesterday’s family gathering at Sandringham – bringing her out of the Christmas cold after more than 30 years of exile – the King was underlining her own point. “In this way,” he concluded, “we bring out the best in ourselves.”
However, the overall theme was service in all its forms. All very worthy, perhaps, but one can hardly blame the king and his advisors. This was the first time in five years that the broadcast was recorded at Buckingham Palace. The last one filmed there featured the Queen speaking from the White Room in 2018. It wasn’t an absolute success. Social media snipers instantly took notice of the shiny piano placed behind her Majesty, and trolls mocked that the monarch was so Croesus rich that she owned a golden piano. Left-wing commentators were amused and the Palace was forced to explain that it was actually a gold-painted relic of Queen Victoria, property of the Royal Collection Trust.
This time, royal advisors had searched the place for possible booby traps. For the first time, a living Christmas tree was featured on the Christmas broadcast. It will be replanted into Windsor soil once Christmas is over. Just like last year’s broadcast, all the decorations were “sustainable”: dried oranges, pine cones, brown glass, etc.
The King spoke from the Palace’s Central Room, which has the advantage of being a functional (albeit elegant) conference room. The closest thing to a luxury item is the thin-screen TV on the wall and a carriage clock in front of a gold-edged mirror. Because he spoke standing, rather than sitting at a desk, no photographs were displayed. In years past, royal watchers took great pleasure in deciphering the annual placement of photographs on the royal desk. Who was inside? Who was out? However, yesterday we had our clues.
“My wife and I were delighted when hundreds of representatives of that selfless army of people – volunteers who serve their communities in so many ways and with so much distinction – were able to join us at Westminster Abbey,” the King observed.
The selection of clips accompanying the broadcast served as a roll call of all those classified as current members of the ‘working family’. Then we saw shots of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (in Edinburgh) honoring the Ukrainian war effort and the Princess Royal meeting troops preparing for the coronation. Like the Welsh, they continue to perform official duties on behalf of the king and therefore appear in the court circular. This is why they are invited to the balcony of Buckingham Palace at events such as the Coronation (while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or York are not).
The Central Room is what lies beyond those famous curtains and the French windows that overlook the famous balcony.
The King chose to film this year’s broadcast there, with the Queen Victoria Memorial visible behind him, because it is where his Coronation celebrations reached their grand finale.
Viewers will be treated to a good look at what really happened there in tonight’s BBC1 documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year (which I wrote and co-produced). Most of this wing of the Palace is still being remodeled and rewired. It meant the family had to walk carefully across bare floorboards and make their way through a construction site to greet (and be greeted by) people. A metaphor, perhaps, for modern royalty; in fact, rather similar to yesterday’s broadcast.