The annual Christmas Day broadcast by King Charles III has emerged as the most-watched television programme in the UK for 2025, drawing an audience of nearly 7 million viewers. The message was recorded earlier in the month in the historic Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.
A Broadcast Strategy for Maximum Reach
The significant viewership figure, reported on 26 December, has sparked commentary on the nature of broadcast scheduling. In a letter to The Guardian, Tony Green from Ipswich suggested the high numbers were less about active choice and more about availability. The programme was aired simultaneously across several of the nation's most popular television channels, including GB News, making it difficult for audiences to avoid.
The recording took place on 11 December 2025, with the King posing for photographers in the serene setting of the Lady Chapel. The widespread simulcast strategy ensured his festive address reached the largest possible captive audience on the day.
Readers' Wit and Observations Take Flight
Beyond the royal broadcast, the holiday period prompted Guardian readers to submit a flurry of amusing and insightful letters. Technology's occasional failings were a theme, with Ingrid Warren from Oxford recounting humorous errors from the Merlin bird identification app. The software once misidentified local peacocks as ospreys and interpreted a passing emergency siren as the call of a peregrine falcon.
Relationships also came under the spotlight. Toby Wood of Peterborough humorously queried the advice columnist Pamela Stephenson Connolly regarding a spouse whose amorous advances were curiously tied to having a letter published in the newspaper.
British Humour on Road Signs and Place Names
The tradition of creatively altering public signs provided further material for correspondence. Sophia Sharif recalled a 1990s sign welcoming visitors to Plymouth as the "Spirit of Discovery." A quick edit by a local wit, removing "very," transformed the message into the more celebratory "Spirit of Disco."
Similarly, Brian Ferris encountered a fake tourist sign on the Cotswold Way in 2010, pointing unsuspecting walkers towards an "Official dogging site." Meanwhile, the aptly named Shropshire hamlet of New Invention once had its sign augmented with the phrase "Patent pending," as noted by John Cockell from Congleton.
These letters, published between 26 and 30 December, showcase the enduring British penchant for witty observation and wordplay, offering a light-hearted counterpoint to the formal traditions of the Christmas broadcast.
