Christmas & New Year Speeches

Many reining monarchs have special Christmas traditions. One of them is the  yearly Christmas Speech.

In the United Kingdom the first Christmas Broadcast was delivered by George V in 1932 and since then has evolved into an important part of the Christmas Day celebrations for many in Britain and around the world.

Each Broadcast carefully reflects current issues and concerns, and shares The Monarch's reflections on what Christmas means to them and their listeners. Over the years, the Christmas Broadcast has acted as a chronicle of global, national and personal events which have affected the Monarch and their audience. 

King George V's eldest son and the new king, Edward VIII, never delivered a Christmas Broadcast, as his reign lasted less than a year.

The task fell to King George VI, King Edward's younger brother, who made his first broadcast in December 1937 in which he thanked the nation and Empire for their support during the first year of his reign.

Though the Christmas Broadcast was already popular by this time, it had still not yet become the regular tradition it is today. Indeed, there had been no broadcasts in 1936 or 1938.

It was the outbreak of war in 1939 which firmly established the Royal Christmas  Broadcast. With large parts of the world now facing an uncertain future, King George VI spoke live to offer a message of reassurance to his people. The Queen continued with this tradtion as well as King Charles III.

But also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and in many monarchies, the King or Grand Duke will deliver a speech. 

In Belgium, King Baudouin started to deliver a Christmas Speech in 1961. It became a yearly tradition since 1975.

Queen Juliana and her Christmas speech

In Sweden the Christmas Speech (Jultal) was held since 1927 and in Denmark it became a tradition in 1941. The Danish Queen and the King of Norway will speak on New Years' Eve.

Belgium

In 2023, King Philippe of the Belgians already delivered his speech on December 24th. You can read this speech in Dutch on this link. 

Denmark

In the New Year's speech of Queen Margrethe of Denmark, there was a  huge surprise which caused a shock among the royalty watchers and bloggers. Queen Margrethe announced her abdication. Her son Frederik will access the throne on 14 January 2024! You can read the full speech in English on this link. 

Luxembourg

In 2023, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg also delivered his speech. You can read it on this link (in  Luxembourgish). 

Monaco

On New Years' Evy, Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlène has delivered their speech.

Norway

In Norway, King Harald has delivered his speech on New Years' Eve too just as in Denmark, although he didn't announce an abdiction. You can see his speech on this Youtube link. 

Spain

In 2023, King Felipe VI of Spain has made his speech on December 24th. You can read the full speech in Spanish on this link. 

Sweden

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden also made his speech. He called 2023 a dark year. You can listen to his speech on this link.  

The Netherlands

In 2023, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands made his Chrismas Speech on December 25th. You can read more about the speech on this link (in Dutch). 

United Kingdom

In 2023, King Charles III of the United Kingdom did something different. The King is pictured in the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace during the filming of this year's Christmas Broadcast.  

The Centre Room opens onto the Buckingham Palace balcony and overlooks The Victoria Memorial and The Mall, where crowds gathered to celebrate The Coronation in May.

The tree is a real tree and will be planted out somewhere else. The decorations are sustainable. You can see the speech on this link. 

This post will be updated with the speeches. 

Source pictures: Wikipedia + own picture (Christmas Tree)