How Prince Philip Helped Queen Elizabeth With Her First Christmas Message Broadcast

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have been married for 70 years, and they have always supported each other.

Years ago, Queen Elizabeth II learned that she will be giving her first Christmas message broadcast on television, and she was extremely nervous to talk in front of the cameras.

Prince Philip helped his wife through the nerve-racking moment by standing behind the camera and giving the queen a reassuring look. The moment was recounted in the Channel 5 documentary “Elizabeth: Our Queen” on Wednesday.

Ronald Allison, the queen’s former press secretary, said, “The queen described it as nerve-racking but she was in good hands. Prince Philip was very much holding her hand through all of this.”

Queen Elizabeth II’s first Christmas message broadcast was produced by Peter Dimmock for BBC. Dimmock’s daughter, Christina Aldridge, said, “The queen was rather nervous and Prince Philip must have known that she was rather nervous. He stood behind the camera and made encouraging faces at her, not ridiculous faces, which encouraged her to relax and smile.”

However, Prince Philip’s attempts to calm his wife down somewhat backfired because the 91-year-old monarch seemed remote and out of touch. “One can feel the strain when she’s doing this broadcast. She’s not sitting back and enjoying it,” said John Julius Norwich, a royal historian.

Queen Elizabeth II’s friend, Lady Prue Penn, said, “She’d built an aura of aloofness about her which I think is probably slight self-defense.”

Fast forward to 2017, it appears as though Queen Elizabeth II has already mastered giving a Christmas message to viewers. Last year, Princes William and Harry’s grandmother sat inside the Buckingham Palace while giving her speech. Beside her was a table filled with photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and her husband.

On another table are pictures of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.