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Royal Family Posts Throwback Clip Of Queen In 1st TV Christmas Address

"I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct,” the then-31-year-old monarch said in her 1957 speech.

The royal family took a long trip down memory lane this week, sharing a clip of Queen Elizabeth II’s first televised Christmas address from 1957.

“Today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day,” the queen said from the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The monarch was a 31-year-old mother of two (Charles and Anne) at the time, and her broadcast speech followed the royals’ first Christmas message, from grandfather King George V on radio, by 25 years.

While the Instagram footage ended with the queen’s brief introduction, the royal family previously posted a clip that contained the rest of her remarks. (See that below.)

The queen noted that her family often watched television, and that was how she imagined the viewers.

“I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct,” she said. “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.”

In last year’s Christmas address, Elizabeth beseeched viewers to treat each other with respect, and spoke of the importance of family and the joys being a grandmother.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.