Final broadcast for former Lord of Mann Queen Elizabeth II

A look back at a life spent on the airwaves

Queen Elizabeth II’s life was one spent very much in front of her public.

It was marked by extraordinary broadcasts across several different mediums – some of which she pioneered for the Royal Family. 

In doing so, she brought them firmly into the 21st century.

Every Christmas, she delivered a message to the nation, summing up the last 12 months and looking forward to the year ahead.

Her last Christmas Day speech will surely now be a bittersweet memory for those who tuned in to hear from her every year:

Long before she was a seasoned professional appearing on television screens around the world, a young Lilibet first took a step into the limelight in 1940 with a radio broadcast.

The 14-year-old future Queen was heard across the airwaves during the BBC’s Children’s Hour, with her younger sister Margaret by her side.

She spoke directly to other children across the UK who had been evacuated from cities, in a voice which has since become instantly recognisable.

Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Philip Mountbatten on the 20th of November 1947 took place at Westminster Abbey.

It was broadcast to 200 million radio listeners around the world.

Not long after, on the 2nd of June 1953, the Abbey was again the setting for a momentous occasion, as Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II.

Indeed, Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every coronation since 1066, making the Queen the thirty-ninth sovereign to be crowned there.

A total of 8,251 guests attended the ceremony, with 129 nations and territories officially represented.

There were more than 2,000 journalists and 500 photographers from 92 nations on the Coronation route.

11 million listened in on the radio in the UK alone.

It was the first to ever be broadcast via television direct into people’s homes, with 27 million people tuning in:

She continued the tradition of modernising the Royal Family when she beamed into homes once more, giving her Christmas day message on television.

The Royal Christmas message began in 1932, when King George V addressed the nation via the BBC’s Empire Service.

In 1957, Elizabeth followed in her grandfather’s footsteps, albeit in a different medium.

It’s not just the Queen herself we have grown accustomed to seeing on our screens - but also versions of her in popular culture the world over.

Helen Mirren won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for her work in The Queen, and Claire Foy became a household name taking her on in the critically acclaimed Netflix drama The Crown.

These versions of the Queen may not be completely factual, but they have humanised a figure usually seen to be just out of the grasp of our comprehension.

We didn’t know Elizabeth personally, but through these versions of her, on the screens in our homes, we could pretend to, even just a little.

Another window into the Queen’s humour has come in the form of broadcasts celebrating her Jubilees, and even the 2012 Olympic Games, which were held in London.

From jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond to chatting to Paddington Bear over marmalade sandwiches, she showed she was always up for embracing joyful moments that would give her people a laugh.

Here in the Isle of Man, she was part of our broadcast history too.

The Queen visited our little island five times, and presided over the open-air sittings of Tynwald on Tynwald Day twice, most notably in 1979, its millennium year:

Thursday, the 8th of September brought us another historic broadcast moment, one not from her mouth, but from a news anchor on the BBC.

At 6.30pm, a page in the history of the UK, the Commonwealth and even the world turned when Huw Edwards made this solemn announcement:

In the days since, the world has reflected on the impact of her long life of dedication and service.

Yesterday, it watched as she was laid to rest.

She was a constant in our lives. The only monarch most of us have ever known and the only Queen most of us likely ever will.

It is truly the end of an era.

The same distinctive voice we have come to expect on Christmas Day and at times of national joy and national turmoil has now gone quiet.

Ironically, now is the time we would all love to hear her most. 

Fortunately, we can turn to any of her many broadcasts to hear her once more: