45x1 - 2002

December 25, 2002

In her 50th Christmas broadcast (which also marked the 70th year of the Royal Christmas Message), the Queen spoke on the themes of joy and sadness, reflecting on her "personal loss" following the deaths of her sister, Princess Margaret, and mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, that year in February and March respectively, and the comfort she received from her faith and the tributes of others. Her message was delivered from the White Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace, with photographs of the Queen Mother, King George VI and Princess Margaret by her side. She recalled the joyous celebration of her Golden Jubilee with excerpts being shown along with the sombre Bali memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral in London. She spoke of reliance on the twin pillars of the "message of hope" in the Christian gospel and the support of the public.