King Charles’ annual Christmas Day speech will air on Thursday and it’ll reportedly have an exciting new format available.
The monarch’s message each year is a staple tradition for many families on December 25.
But this year, there appears to be some big changes with King Charles embracing new technology.
King Charles’ Christmas message
This week will see King Charles deliver his fourth Christmas message as monarch.
The first Royal Christmas message was delivered via radio by King Charles’ great-grandfather, King George V, in 1932. It was written by Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling. The king had declined the idea when it was first put to him ten years earlier, apparently tentative about the new medium of radio.
3pm GMT was chosen as the best time for reaching most of the countries in the British Empire.
King’s Christmas message to be available in VR
According to The Sun, King Charles’ Christmas speech will also be available in virtual reality this Christmas.
Meta Quest 3 VR headset viewers will apparently be able to enjoy a unique and immersive viewing experience, watching the speech with the impression that they are sitting either in a luxurious wooden lodge or a full cinema.
An insider reportedly told the newspaper: “We have a great tradition of embracing new technologies from the very start of the royal Christmas message and are always looking to reach out to new audiences.”
Reps for Buckingham Palace have been contacted for comment.
Royal Christmas messages
25 later, in 1957, the speech was televised for the first time. This allowed viewers a unique insight into the queen in her own home.
In 1997, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message became the first to be made available on the internet.
In 2012, to mark Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee, the queen’s Christmas message was also recorded in 3D.
Read more: King Charles’ reaction as charity campaigner ‘breaks royal protocol’ at Windsor Castle
Buckingham Palace reportedly said of the historic update: “We wanted to do something a bit different and special in this Jubilee year, so doing it for the first time in 3D seemed a good thing, technology wise, to do. The Queen absolutely agreed straight away there was no need for convincing at all, she was absolutely ready to embrace something new in this year.”
The King’s Christmas Message will air on BBC One, BBC Two and ITV1 at 3pm on Christmas Day.
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