Royal Christmas Message - Similar Messages Elsewhere

Similar Messages Elsewhere

The Pope delivers a Christmas message to the world and leaders of other countries have adopted the tradition of a message at Christmas, including the King of Sweden, the Queen of the Netherlands, the King of the Belgians, the President of Germany, and the King of Spain.

Others have modified the practice by issuing a statement to coincide with the New Year; this is done by the Governors-General of Canada and New Zealand, the Queen of Denmark, the King of Thailand, the Presidents of Finland, France, Hungary, Russian Federation, the President of the People's Republic of China, and Italy, as well as the Chancellor of Germany (the Archbishop of Canterbury also gives a New Year's Day speech). The Prime Minister of Malaysia also makes his speech not only on this occasion but also on the night of Hari Raya Aidilfitri and on the eve of its independence day. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong also makes his speech on his birthday in June and on National Heroes Day in July. The Prime Minister of Singapore gives his speech on this occasion and on the National Day of Singapore. In the past, the Governor of Hong Kong, as the representative of the British monarch, played this role; the tradition was carried on by the Chief Executive upon the territory's change of status into a Chinese dependency in 1997. Beginning in 1986, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev exchanged televised New Year's Day addresses to the other's respective nations. This exchange continued between President George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev until the demise of the Soviet Union.