Special address by the British monarch

Special addresses by the monarch of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms (and previously of the British Empire and its Dominions), outside the annual Royal Christmas Message and the Commonwealth Day Message, only take place at times of significant national or royal events.

[1][2] British monarchs have given speeches for centuries but it was only in the 20th century, with the advent of radio, that the Monarch was able to address the whole nation at once.

On Christmas Day in 1932, King George V became the first British monarch to make a live radio broadcast to the nation.

Special addresses by the Monarch on days other than Christmas Day, however, are extremely rare and have only occurred at times of significant national or royal events.

The speech had originally been intended to be recorded at 4 pm and then later broadcast, but royal officials were persuaded by the government to broadcast the address live and it was timed to be inserted into the Six o'clock news bulletins.