How Broadcast Television Shifted How the World Views the British Monarchy

Alan Allport, professor of history in the Maxwell School, was quoted by History.com for the article, “Queen Elizabeth’s First Televised Broadcast Presented a New Type of Monarch.” This article highlights Queen Elizabeth’s first annual Christmas message that aired on live TV and how it introduced the monarchy to the world in a humane and personal way for the first time. Allport adds, “The idea of beaming the image of the monarch into ordinary people’s homes represented a new kind of intimacy in the relationship between the Crown and the masses.”