It is the season of goodwill and tinsel, of mulled wine and roast turkey with potatoes and Brussels sprouts, Christmas pudding and family gatherings. But there is one family above all in the UK who sets the tone. And exactly at 3 pm, the Queen delivers her Christmas message, every year. She has now done it a record 62 times. This is the one public act for which she does not need to consult the Prime Minister.
This is her personal privilege. She manages every time to capture the year gone by and cheer everyone up. But this year there were larger issues to discuss, and some of them quite heartbreaking.
This time with the twin tragedies of Paris and the refugee crisis looming large, she talked of the fugitive life Joseph and Mary had to lead as they were driven from their home with a newly-born baby Jesus in tow. She also spoke of the light shining out of darkness capturing the sentiments of many.
Continuity is something the British love and so we could could see behind her photographs displayed with four generations of the Royals from the nonagenarian Duke of Edinburgh to the recently christened Charlotte who is yet to celebrate her first birthday. The Queen herself will be 90 early next year in February. Her mother managed to live beyond 100 so we can expect many more Xmas broadcasts.
The other institution is of course the choir from King’s College, Cambridge, which begins its rendition of Christmas carols broadcast by the BBC. As the families are sitting down to their (usually) sumptuous Christmas lunch, the delicate voices of the young choristers begin the renderings and for the next hour we get to hear some exquisite singing of well-known carols. By the time they end, we are ready to dig into Christmas pudding and burst Christmas crackers.
This is a “secular” nation, but there are many Christian values and ceremonies that we take for granted. Should we question them, or shouldn’t we simply accept that this country has a long Christian tradition, and enjoy its diversity?
The plight of refugees from Syria and from Africa has been much on everyone’s mind. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has created an atmosphere of fear for far too many. The Archbishop of Canterbury in his message compared to Herod who ordered the slaughter of newborn babes.
But one sorry effect is the increasing distrust of Muslims. This really hit a British Muslim family travelling to the US. They had long planned a family holiday to take their children to Disneyland. But as they were about to get on the flight for LA, they were prevented from boarding on the advice of US immigration officers. All 11 family members were stunned, especially the children who were looking forward to their trip.
No explanation was given. This is the first time that a British family has been not even allowed to board a flight. There is much disquiet and David Cameron has been urged to discuss this with the US. If travellers to the US are going to be prejudged by their religion, this will create a lot of bias. Her Majesty’s reminder of the fugitive status of the parents of Jesus could not have been more apt.
Imagine getting a phone call from outer space. Someone saying “Hello, is that Planet Earth?” Colonel Tim Peake is a British astronaut spending six months at the International Space Station. He called home to wish his wife. Unfortunately, he got the wrong number. He tweeted an apology immediately to whoever received this call from outer space. The next time he called his parents, but only got to their answer phone.
Obviously no matter how high-tech the equipment, you still can make mistakes! Sometimes snail mail can succeed where high-tech can’t. And every year, we find Royal Mail succeeding in delivering letters where the address is surprisingly incomplete. A letter with only England for an address which had come from Germany was delivered to its rightful recipient. Somehow the sleuths of the Royal Mail had known that the person had previous letters from Germany and so concluded that this was another.
Kishwar Desai is an award-winning author
