The royal family are certainly getting into the festive spirit.
Taking to Instagram, the official Royal Family Instagram account shared a throwback video of a young Queen Elizabeth in her first-ever televised Christmas message in 1957 – 62 years ago.
While her grandfather King George V started the tradition in 1932 to broadcast a Christmas message over the radio, with the rapid advances in technology, the Queen became the first royal to do so via television.
Filmed live from the Long Library at Sandringham, Norfolk, the 31-year-old looked as elegant as ever in an evening dress and pearl necklace, beginning the broadcast with a “Happy Christmas”.
Watch the highlights of the 1957 Christmas message above.
Five years before her first televised broadcast, Queen Elizabeth made her first Christmas broadcast over radio as Queen. (Image: Getty)
“25 years ago my grandfather broadcasted the very first of these Christmas messages,” Queen Elizabeth says to camera.
“Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me, in your homes on Christmas day. My own family often gather round to watch television, as they are at this moment and that is how I imagine you now.
“I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct,” she continues.
“It’s inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you – a successor to the Kings and Queens of history. Someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives. But now at least for a few minutes, I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”
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Throughout the seven-minute broadcast, the monarch also speaks about embracing the new while also cherishing aspects of tradition and spoke about how the role of a monarch has evolved.
It’s certainly not the only time the Queen has embraced new technology for her Christmas message, however. In 2012, Her Majesty recorded her message in 3D for the first time with a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman saying the Queen thought the broadcast was “absolutely lovely.”
Queen Elizabeth filmed her annual Christmas message in 3D in 2012 for her Jubilee year. (Image: Getty)
Adding, “We wanted to do something a bit different and special in this Jubilee year, so doing it for the first time in 3D seemed a good thing, technology-wise, to do.
“The Queen absolutely agreed straight away there was no need for convincing at all, she was absolutely ready to embrace something new this year.”
With Christmas just two weeks away, we look forward to the Queen’s Christmas message this year.
Watch the full version of the 1957 Christmas message here.
