Queen’s speech 2018: What time is the Royal Christmas message on TV?

The Queen's speech is a Christmas Day staple
Tom Herbert25 December 2018

You're more stuffed than the turkey and you've over indulged on the Christmas pudding, which means it must be time to watch the Queen's Speech.

Officially known as the Queen's Christmas Message, the speech is one of the few occasions when the royal is able to voice her own views.

The tradition was started by her grandfather King George V in 1932, and attracted an incredible 7.6 million viewers last year.

But what is the Queen's Speech and how did it all begin? Here's everything you need to know:

What is the Queen's Christmas speech?

The Queen praised Britain's Olympians and Paralympians in 2016

Every year at 3pm the reigning monarch delivers a television message to the entire Commonwealth, detailing the events of the last 12 months, often lasting around 10 minutes.

The message is a staple of Christmas Day broadcasting, and since its inception there have only been three occasions when there was no message on radio or television; 1936 (due to Edward VIII’s abdication a few weeks prior), 1938 and 1969.

The first one was delivered by the Queen’s grandfather, King George V in 1932, live over radio.

The idea was proposed by Sir John Reith, founder of the BBC. The broadcast went out at 3pm to Great Britain, Australia, Canada, India, Kenya and South Africa, from a makeshift studio in Sandringham House.

A staggering 20 million people tuned in to the two and a half minute message, which was written by The Jungle Book author and poet, Rudyard Kipling.

The Queen delivered her first address in 1952, with the first televised message in 1957.

The message is no longer broadcast live, and is instead pre-recorded about a week before Christmas.

Unlike her predecessors, the Queen does not equip the skills of famed writers and instead writes her own speech, in which she reflects on the year gone by, and often gives it a theme.

What time and channel is the Queen's speech on?

The speech is broadcast to all 52 Commonwealth nations at 3pm on Christmas Day.

Lasting around 10 minutes, the speech is shown on BBC One, ITV, Sky 1 and Sky News, along with BBC Radio 4.

In 2016 8.1 million of us watched in the UK across ITV and the BBC, making it top of the TV ratings on Christmas Day.

The Christmas message is also shown live on the Royals' YouTube channel, Facebook and since 2006 you can download the speech as a podcast.

You can also stream the Queen's speech online via iPlayer.

What will the Royal Christmas message include this year?

The Queen's speech will be shown at 3pm on Christmas Day
Getty Images

The Queen's annual televised message to the nation is one of the rare occasions when she does not turn to the Government for advice, instead airing her own views.

It traditionally has a strong religious framework reflecting the Queen's faith, and is written by the Queen reflecting on current issues and drawing on her own experiences over the past year.

It is likely the Queen will mention Harry and Meghan's wedding this year as well as their pregnancy along with, inevitably, Brexit.

Prince Louis' birth will also probably get a mention, as will Prince Charles' 70th birthday and Princes Eugenie's marriage to Jack Brooksbank.

What is Danny Dyer's Alternative Christmas Message?

The Queen starts Christmas break: In Pictures

1/8

Since 1993 Channel 4 has offered it's own Alternative Christmas message.

This year Estender's hardman Danny Dyer will serve up his own speech on Christmas Day where he will talk politics, family and heroes.

A teaser clip released today sees Dyer brand 2018 "shambles" as he asks where the country’s leaders are, before comparing Westminster to the drama and “backstabbing” in Walford.

He also brands President Donald Trump a “melt” and berates him for not making a state visit to the UK.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in