Two Kings and two Christmas speeches 2022
š Charles III spoke of love, religion, family, faith and everlasting light. Felipe VI sounded a royal red alert on division, deterioriation and erosion in Spain.
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In the notes after Christmas, we were talking about the way individual lives and groups slowly evolve over time into societies and nations and History.
Handily, two kings have broadcast their pre-prepared Christmas propaganda messages to their respective countries over the holidays, so we can see what each thought worthy of note and which concepts or events they wished to attempt to embed in their nationās collective psyche. Between all the royal PR lines, perhaps we might even glimpse a hint of how each man sees his own role as head of state, as leader of all, in that place.
Felipe VIās effort was more than twice as long as Charles IIIās. The Spaniard waffled on for 1,400 words versus the Englishmanās tighter 600 words.
The most obvious thing to note is something that is glaringly present in King Charlesās message and glaringly absent in King Felipeās: religion.
Charlesās words were full of faith, belief, Christ and the Church. Choirboys sang in a chapel. Images were edited in showing him physically inside the Chapel of the Manger in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to reflect in silent reverence on the meaning of the silver star where Christians believe Jesus was born: āIn the much-loved carol O Little Town Of Bethlehemā, he said: āwe sing of how āin thy dark streets shineth the everlasting lightāā.
In Felipeās message, the only reference to religion, faith, the Church or anything at all that might hint at something perhaps resembling Chrisitanity, and that from a very great distance, was one mention of the word āChristmasā in the last paragraph, as he said goodbye, and one reference to āChristmas Eveā at the start. The only mention of ābeliefā was a secular self-help āwe must believe in ourselvesā. We shall get to the why in a moment.
King Charles combined abundant religious references and the very foundational concept of Christianityāloveāwith Christmas, family, community and service for those British people contemplating eternal existence over mince pies on Christmas Day afternoon. King Felipe began with a 330-word festive lecture (half of Charlesās entire speech) on duty (āto keep fulfilling this traditionā), geopolitics, Ukraine, defence policy and European relations as Spaniards opened the wine over Chrismas Eve dinner.
āFaith in Godā led to āfaith in peopleā, said Charles about his ābeloved mother, the late Queenā, who held a ābelief in the power of that lightā that he shared āwith my whole heartā. That led him, conceptually and rhetorically, to comments praising the efforts of non-royal Britons in public service around the country in different circumstances: āthe extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others, and to shine a light in the world around themā at āthis time of great anxiety and hardshipā.
In Spain, King Felipe didnāt mention his own father, Juan Carlos, still banished to national oblivion in Abu Dhabi, at all and turned his lecture on Ukraine and European geopolitics into another, longer one on Constitutional law and foundational principles, via the main pessimistic themes of ādivisionā, āthe deterioration of wanting to live togetherā and āthe erosion of institutionsā. That didnāt sound either very festive or very positive from the Head of State. It was more like a royal red alert on how he sees Spanish politics.
āThe first thingāand I say this againāis that we must have confidence in ourselves, as a nationā, he said. If the King himself, in his major TV message of the whole year, broadcast straight at millions of families as they sit down to Christmas dinner, and even if itās only on in the background as everybody dives in to the prawns and lobster, says things like āa country or society divided or quarrelling does not advance, does not progress or resolve its problems, does not generate trustā, then the festive jelly is not the only thing that is wobbling.
If the King is shouting to the country that division and quarrelling are a danger, then the King must be observing those things, must believe they have national existential significance. If rickety institutions and warnings about a general threat to unity are the festive message this year, then the underlying state of Spain as a nation is very different from the underlying state of the UK as a nation. A British monarch, as well as benefiting from several centuries of unbroken tradition, is supposed to remain above or outside of politics. The modern Spanish monarch has only occupied his constitutional place for 44 years and regularly makes remarks that are relevant to national politics.
āThe entire new scenario we are living throughā, said King Felipe: āthe war, the economic and social situation, the instability and tensions in international relationsāare logically causing great worry and uncertainty in our societyā. King Charlesās answer to the ātime of great anxiety and hardshipā was āthe humanity of people throughout our nations and the Commonwealth who so readily respond to the plight of othersā, which was also his only overt reference to the concept of ānationā.
The number of times Felipe VI expressed obligation seemed notable: āwe must have confidence in ourselves, as a nationā, āmust not be forgottenā, āthat we must protectā, āwe must have reasons to look towards the future with hopeā, or āwe must continue to share goalsā. Obligation is not wish or will.
Both monarchs saw social problems but one was drawn towards a narrative of division, deterioriation and erosion and the other towards the shining light of the human spirit exemplified by love in a range of religious traditions among people in families and society at Christmas. The monarch as an exemplary representative figure of all-encompassing human values, far above mundane political or geopolitical squabbles, versus the monarch as the highest-level constitutional arbiter of a nation in which many politicians are intent on splintering it for personal or partisan gain.
It is implausible to imagine either royal speech in the other country: Felipe VI talking about religion, faiths, love, everlasting light and service or Charles III warning of the political risk of the division and erosion of the nation itself.
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.(The carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, referenced by Charles III)
āI believe that, at this time, we should all be exercising responsibility and reflect in a constructive manner on the consequences that ignoring these risks can have for our union, our living together and our institutions. We cannot take everything we have built for granted. Nearly 45 years have passed since the approval of the Constitution and of course many things have changed and will continue to do so. But the spirit that gave birth to it, its principles and foundations, which are the work of all, cannot weaken and must not be forgotten.ā
(Felipe VI)
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An interesting analysis but I think Mathew misses an important feature of Chales III's address. The english conservative press were 'respectfully' very critical of Charles's speech - a major columnist in the very popular right wing Daily Mail for example labelled him, oh so politely, as being politically "naive" because of his clear references to tha value and importance of public sector workers. This when workers in Health Care and Medicine (nurses, midwives, ambulance drivers and their paramedic crews) and in the pasenger transport industries (rail travel, airport servicing), and others, are currently engaged in sustained series' of national strikes, and with respect to which the conservatived government refuses to negotiate and which outrage the conservative print media and many of the broadcast media on a daily basis. Charles's speech in context was restrained but highly political and very much more so than any made by Elizabeth II, his late mother.