1959 - HM's Most Gracious Speech

The Queen pre-recorded her Christmas message for the first time. The message was recorded in Buckingham Palace a week prior to broadcast and lasted about one minute. It was not broadcast on television this year (the Queen was heavily pregnant with Prince Andrew at the time). It conveyed the Queen's best wishes and her gratitude for the warm wishes she had received. Being pre-recorded allowed the message to be shipped abroad in advance and to be broadcast in Australia and New Zealand on Christmas Day for the first time as time differences and the International Date Line meant that many previous live broadcasts were actually heard on Boxing Day in Australia and New Zealand. As a result of the success of the recording, all subsequent Christmas messages have also been pre-recorded.