Lauding public sector and voluntary workers, he evoked the compassionate conservatism the government has expunged from its ranks and rhetoric
Do people still rise out of their Christmas Day torpor to listen to the monarch’s message to the nation at 3pm? It used to be the one immutable point of the day: the only time in the year when the Queen – and it was always the Queen in living memory – spoke directly to the nation in her own words, unscripted by ministers. Yet its familiarity and – let’s face it – frequent vacuousness make it feel less relevant or significant to many these days.
Although in her later years the Queen often used the broadcast to speak movingly of her own faith, she steered, you might say religiously, clear of politics. But was there a slight tremor of difference this year in the new king’s lauding of public sector staff and voluntary workers – those who help at food banks and deliver aid to disaster zones across the world?
Stephen Bates is a former Guardian royal correspondent and author of Royalty Inc: Britain’s Best-Known Brand
