Queen for a Day
December 26, 2003
Almost every year since 1932, the reigning British monarch has addressed the nation on Christmas afternoon. This year, for the first time ever, Her Majesty is offering a telephone hotline, so that troops serving in Iraq can hear it on their cell phones. But in recent years, viewership has drifted downward to below 10 million, from a record high of 17 million back in 1987. Can a tradition from the days of empire possibly have any cultural resonance today? Gareth Mitchell reports from London.
