Christmas Broadcast 1955

Published

I always feel that just for these few minutes, the march of history stops while we listen to each other, and think of each other, on Christmas Day.

In 1955 The Queen's Christmas Message was broadcast live from her study at Sandringham. Her theme was the opportunities arising from membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.

No doubt you have been listening, as I have, to the messages which have been reaching us from all over the world. I always feel that just for these few minutes, the march of history stops while we listen to each other, and think of each other, on Christmas Day.

For my husband and myself and for our children, the year that is passing has added to our store of happy memories. We have spent most of it in this country, and we have enjoyed seeing many parts of Britain which we had not visited before.

Now a New Year will soon be upon us, and we are looking forward to seeing something of Nigeria, that great tropical land in Equatorial Africa where more than thirty millions of my people have their homes.

For them and for all of us each New Year is an adventure into the unknown. Year by year, new secrets of nature are being revealed to us by science - secrets of immense power, for good or evil, according to their use. These discoveries resolve some of our problems, but they make others deeper and more immediate.

A hundred years ago, our knowledge of the world's surface was by no means complete; today most of the blanks have been filled in. Our present explorations are into new territories of scientific knowledge and into the undeveloped regions of human behaviour. We have still to solve the problem of living peaceably together as peoples and as nations.

We shall need the faith and determination of our forebears, when they crossed uncharted seas into the hidden interiors of Africa and Australia, to guide us on our journeys into the undiscovered realms of the human spirit.

In the words of our Poet Laureate:

"Though you have conquered Earth and charted Sea

And planned the courses of all Stars that be,

Adventure on, more wonders are in Thee.

Adventure on, for from the littlest clue

Has come whatever worth man ever knew;

The next to lighten all men may be you."

We must adventure on if we are to make the world a better place. All my peoples of the Commonwealth and Empire have their part to play in this voyage of discovery. We travel all together, just as the Maori tribes sailed all together into the mysterious South Pacific to find New Zealand.

There are certain spiritual values which inspire all of us. We try to express them in our devotion to freedom, which means respect for the individual and equality before the law. Parliamentary Government is also a part of this heritage.

We believe in the conception of a Government and Opposition and the right to criticise and defend. All these things are part of the natural life of our free Commonwealth.

Great opportunities lie before us. Indeed a large part of the world looks to the Commonwealth for a lead. We have already gone far towards discovering for ourselves how different nations, from North and South, from East and West, can live together in friendly brotherhood, pooling the resources of each for the benefit of all.

Every one of us can also help in this great adventure, for just as the Commonwealth is made up of different nations, so those nations are made up of individuals. The greater the enterprise the more important our personal contribution.

The Christmas message to each of us is indivisible; there can be no "Peace on earth" without "Goodwill toward men". Scientists talk of 'chain reaction' - of power releasing yet more power. This principle must be most true when it is applied to the greatest power of all: the power of love.

My beloved grandfather, King George V, in one of his broadcasts when I was a little girl, called upon all his peoples in these words: "Let each of you be ready and proud to give to his country the service of his work, his mind and his heart." That is surely the first step to set in motion the 'chain reaction' of the Powers of Light, to illuminate the new age ahead of us.

And the second step is this: to understand with sympathy the point of view of others, within our own countries and in the Commonwealth, as well as those outside it. In this way we can bring our unlimited spiritual resources to bear upon the world.

As this Christmas passes by, and time resumes its march, let us resolve that the spirit of Christmas shall stay with us as we journey into the unknown year that lies ahead.

Related content

Press release 12 December 2003

Update on The Queen's progress following her knee operation

Read more
Press release 09 December 2003

The Queen will have a minor operation on her left knee

Read more
Press release 23 April 2003

Announcement of The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry 2003

Read more
Press release 14 January 2003

The Queen leaves hospital

Read more

Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, 7 October 2002

Je chéris ma place dans la vie du Canada et mon lien avec tous les Canadiens et Canadiennes.

07 October 2002

Tri-Service gathering of the Armed Forces at Portsmouth, 27 June 2002

Britain is grateful to you, whether here in Portsmouth, in bases across the United Kingdom, or across the world.

27 June 2002

A speech by The Queen on her Golden Jubilee

I hope that these celebrations will remind us of our shared heritage and what it means to be a united people, enjoying the support of families, friends and neighbours around...

04 June 2002

The death of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, 8 April 2002

I thank you for the support you are giving me and my family as we come to terms with her death and the void she has left in our midst.

08 April 2002
Press release 30 March 2002

Death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Read more
Press release 09 February 2002

Death of Princess Margaret

Read more
Press release 01 February 2002

Diary of events in the early life of The Queen

Read more

Christmas Broadcast 2001

For Christmas marks a moment to pause, to reflect and believe in the possibilities of rebirth and renewal.

25 December 2001
Press release 01 December 2001

The Queen's Christmas cards exhibition

Read more

Christmas Broadcast 2000

By any measure this Millennium year has been an unforgettable one.

25 December 2000

Christmas Broadcast 1999

This December we are looking back not just on one year, but on a hundred years and a thousand years.

25 December 1999

Christmas Broadcast 1998

Though we each lead different lives, the experience of growing older, and the joys and emotions which it brings, are familiar to us all.

25 December 1998

A speech by The Queen on her Golden Wedding Anniversary

He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years.

20 November 1997

A speech by The Queen following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales

May those who died rest in peace and may we, each and every one of us, thank God for someone who made many, many people happy.

05 September 1997

Christmas Broadcast 1996

I remember my own childhood Christmases here, with my father and mother, and a great family gathering, and now I delight in seeing my children and grandchildren enjoying the...

25 December 1996

Christmas Broadcast 1995

But I cannot think of any Christmas of my reign when the message of the angels has been more apt.

25 December 1995

Christmas Broadcast 1954

So, our Commonwealth hearth becomes more precious than ever before by the contrast between its homely security and the storm which sometimes seems to be brewing outside, in...

25 December 1994

Christmas Broadcast 1994

To see British and Russian veterans standing together, in memory of the sacrifices of their comrades-in-arms, was a moving experience.

25 December 1994

Christmas Broadcast 1993

We have indeed become a global village.

25 December 1993

Christmas Broadcast 1992

I first came here for Christmas as a grandchild. Nowadays, my grandchildren come here for the same family festival.

25 December 1992

A speech by The Queen on the 40th Anniversary of her succession (Annus horribilis speech)

1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.

24 November 1992

Christmas Broadcast 1991

I am constantly amazed by the generosity of donors and subscribers, great and small, who give so willingly and often towards the enjoyment of others.

25 December 1991

Christmas Broadcast 1990

I hope that all of us lucky enough to be able to enjoy such gatherings this Christmas will take time to count our blessings.

25 December 1990

Christmas Broadcast 1989

Unlike all the other planets in the solar system, earth shimmers green and blue in the sunlight and looks a very pleasant place to live.

25 December 1989

Christmas Broadcast 1988

May the Christmas story encourage you, for it is a message of hope every year, not for a few, but for all.

25 December 1988

A speech by The Queen to mark Australia's bicentenary

More than ten thousand men and women can take great pride in the parts they have played in the creation of this symbol of Australian unity and democracy.

09 May 1988

Christmas Broadcast 1987

I hope we will all help each other to have a happy Christmas and, when the New Year comes, resolve to work for tolerance and understanding between all people.

25 December 1987

Christmas Broadcast 1986

There are many serious and threatening problems in this country and in the world but they will never be solved until there is peace in our homes and love in our hearts.

25 December 1986

Christmas Broadcast 1985

These success stories are often pushed into the background but they are the guarantee of our future.

25 December 1985

Christmas Broadcast 1984

But friendship, whether we are talking of continents or next door neighbours, should not need strife as its forerunner.

25 December 1984

Christmas Broadcast 1983

I hope that Christmas will remind us all that it is not how we communicate but what we communicate with each other that really matters.

25 December 1983

Christmas Broadcast 1982

Throughout history, seamen all over the world have shared a common experience and there is a special sense of brotherhood between merchant and naval seamen, fishermen...

25 December 1982

Christmas Broadcast 1981

All around us we see these acts of selflessness, people putting the life of someone else before their own.

25 December 1981

Christmas Broadcast 1980

I come across examples of unselfish service in all walks of life and in many unexpected places.

25 December 1980

Christmas Broadcast 1979

Today we celebrate the birth of the child who transformed history and gave us a great faith.

25 December 1979

Christmas Broadcast 1978

My grandfather, King George V, started the tradition of the Christmas Day Broadcasts back in 1932.

25 December 1978

A speech by The Queen to Parliament on her Silver Jubilee

Perhaps this Jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of...

04 May 1977

Christmas Broadcast 1976

Remember that good spreads outwards and every little does help.

25 December 1976

Christmas Broadcast 1973

I believe that Christmas should remind us that the qualities of the human spirit are more important than material gain.

25 December 1973

Christmas Broadcast 1971

The Christmas message is really one for all seasons and not just for one day of the year.

25 December 1971

Christmas Broadcast 1970

Never before has there been a group of independent nations linked in this way by their common history and continuing affection.

25 December 1970

Christmas Broadcast 1969

In a short time the 1960s will be over but not out of our memories. Historians will record them as the decade in which men first reached out beyond our own planet and set foot...

25 December 1969

Christmas Broadcast 1968

At times it is almost hidden by the merry making and tinsel, but the essential message of Christmas is still that we all belong to the great brotherhood of man.

25 December 1968