King Charles will address the country on Christmas Day in a tradition that began 92 years ago.

His first Christmas broadcast, in 2022, was filmed in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth who was laid to rest there. 

It was the first Christmas speech made by a male monarch since Charles’s grandfather, King George VI delivered a pre-recorded message in 1951. 

Though the concept remains the same, the current monarch’s speeches are very different to the very first read by George V in 1932.

Sat in a small room in Sandringham that provided better sound quality and reportedly calmed the King’s nerves, George V gave his first ever Christmas broadcast.

The Daily Mail’s coverage of the momentous occasion at the time called it the ‘world’s most thrilling broadcast’.

King George V giving his Christmas broadcast from Sandringham back in 1934

Queen Elizabeth filming her Christmas address in Sandringham with the original microphones used by her grandfather by her side

‘Reception was very good in this country and excellent reports have been received from overseas,’ the Mail reported.

It was a huge step in connecting the monarch to the rest of the world. 

An estimated 20 million people tuned in to hear the King’s Christmas message during which he spoke of ‘the marvels of modern science’ that allowed him to be heard by so many.

‘I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all,’ he said. ‘To men and women so cut off by the snows, the desert, or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them.’ 

He ended with, ‘To all – to each – I wish a Happy Christmas. God bless you!’ 

Though it was received well, the broadcast reportedly did not go smoothly.

The King was ridden with nerves and had the speech written for him.

Though he was reluctant at first, George V eventually agreed to take a break from celebrating with his family and read the 251 words.

It didn’t go completely to plan, however, and he fell through the seat of his favourite wicker chair shortly before the broadcast began.

Aides quickly helped him into another chair but the monarch ended up so stressed about the speech that he later said it ‘ruined’ his Christmas.

A clipping from the Daily Mail in 1932, reporting on the King’s first ever Christmas broadcast

The Queen pictured after her Christmas Day television broadcast in 1957

The late monarch in the Blue Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace recording her Christmas Day message in 2013

Nevertheless, it was a tradition that has been repeated most Christmases since. 

The next year, George V used it as an opportunity to send special wishes, ‘especially to the children, whose great day this is’.

He reflected on the ‘many upheavals and uncertainties of 1933 and looked towards the future. It ended with ‘God bless you’.

King George VI did not give a Christmas Day address in 1936 after only have two weeks to prepare when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated on December 10. 

George VI struggled with a severe stutter and gave his first Christmas Day broadcast in 1937 with speech therapist Lionel Logue by his side.

However, he found the ordeal so stressful that he didn’t give another Christmas Day speech until 1939, when the country was at war.

Queen Elizabeth gave her first Christmas Day speech over the radio in December 1952.

The monarch sat in the same chair and desk as her grandfather and paid tribute to her late father. 

She talked about families coming together for the festive period and how she viewed the Commonwealth as ‘a far larger family’.

Elizabeth also looked forward to her Coronation in the following year and asked for people to pray for her. 

The late Queen shaped the Christmas speech tradition in her own way by taking it to the television screen for the first time in 1957.

On the 25th anniversary of the first ever Christmas radio broadcast, Elizabeth sat down in the Long Library at Sandringham and addressed the nation through their televisions.

Dressed in a glitzy evening gown and the three-string pearl necklace gifted to her by her father King George when she turned 21, the Queen sat by a piano, alongside a framed picture of Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

The Queen said: ‘Twenty-five years ago, my grandfather broadcast the first of these messages.

Elizabeth pictured after recording her Christmas speech in 2018 in the White Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace

King Charles pictured during his first Christmas broadcast in 2022

‘Today is another landmark, because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day.’ 

Now, King George V’s great-grandson continues the yearly tradition over the festive period and is set to give his third Christmas broadcast.

Last year, he chose the backdrop of the room in Buckingham Palace that leads to the iconic balcony. 

He focused mostly on the Coronation and emphasised the acts of service that went with it.