Imperial Christmas Message

Opening Vignette of the Imperial Christmas Message of 2018.

Opening Vignette of the Imperial Christmas Message of 2020.

Opening Vignette of the Imperial Christmas Message of 2022.

The Imperial Christmas Message, also known as The Emperor-King's Christmas Message or more formally as His Imperial and Royal Majesty's Most Gracious Speech, is a special broadcast made by the Emperor-King to the Empire and friends each Christmas. The tradition began in 2014 with a broadcast via YouTube by Oscar I. The custom of the broadcasts follows the same style of the Christmas speeches made by the Pope, the King of Sweden, the King of the Belgians, the President of Germany and the King of Spain.

The themes and direction of the speech are decided by the Emperor and the text is largely written by the Emperor himself, sometimes with assistance from his staff. In recent years, the speech has become more personal in tone. In 2020, for the first time, the Christmas Message was recorded with two messages: the first with the Emperor and the second by Hannah Callahan, the Consul of Delvera.

History

The idea for a Christmas message from the Emperor-King to his subjects was first proposed by Guilherme, Duke of Libertia, assimilating the British custom of the Royal Christmas Message. In 2014, the then-King of Ruthenia read the Christmas Message; the King was originally hesitant about his skills in performing a full speech in English but was broadcasted anyway. It reached an estimated 130 people.

In 2015, on Christmas Day, the speech was canceled at the last minute due to an unfortunate incident. A Slovak called Matej Boruta, in a neither unjustified nor provoked hatred access, insulted the micronational movement, the Hungarian people, and the Queen with racist and derogatory phrases. Sources informed the Government the subject was an "ultra-nationalist" but nothing explained the attack or diminished its effects and considering the offenses were made just minutes before the speech, it was impossible to record that year. To this day, it was the only Christmas message not transmitted..

In 2016, the speech was published on the official website of the Empire, but the records were eventually lost during the transition to the current official website. In 2017, the broadcast, simultaneously displayed in English and Portuguese, was the first to be published in the national forum, the Persenburg Citadel.

Oscar I during the recording of the 2020 message.

Broadcast and style

The message typically combines a chronicle of that year's events, wishes for the coming year, and a focus on the Empire with the sovereign's own personal milestones and feelings on Christmas and Nation. It is one of the few instances when the sovereign speaks publicly, being the other moment the speech of Day of the Foundation. Planning for each year's address begins weeks earlier when the Emperor-King establishes a theme and appropriate archival footage is collected and assembled; the actual speech is recorded a few days prior to Christmas.

The messages, recorded on audio or on video, are transmitted through the official channel of the Empire on YouTube and available on the pages of the Empire in social media for greater reach. It is also customary for the transcribed versions of the speech to circulate. The Emperor generally avoid talk of politics during his speeches, preferring to talk about family values and the holiday spirit, though he did use his speech to mention some important political milestones.

Messages

Monarch	Year	Broadcast by	Notes
Oscar I	2014	YouTube	Written by King Oscar I, the speech touched on the first steps of the development of Ruthenia and wishes for growth and progress.
	2015		No message was delivered.
	2016		Oscar I spoke of the newly-founded Karno-Ruthenian Empire in his first Christmas speech as Emperor-King about a common "spirit to be part of one great family" that was formed by the union of nations to form the Empire. The records of the speech were lost during the transition to a new website.
	2017		This speech, the first written in English and Portuguese, which are the main languages of the Empire, was in a casual conversational tone with the citizens and friends of the Empire, wishing that feelings like generosity and kindness are present in the lives of all.
	2018		The speech, again in a casual conversational tone with the citizens was about the feeling of belonging to a family as a member of the Empire and the importance of family as a value.
	2019		Keeping the casual conversational tone, the speech remembered the importance of family and its different compositions although deserving unconditional love anyway.
	2020		Maintaining a personal speech, it was the most elaborate production to date, displaying the flag of Ruthenia and the Crown in the background. There was also the speech by the Consul of Delvera, recorded on audio. Both speeches addressed the challenge of the past year, remembering the importance of staying strong and determined for future challenges.. Due to a technical issue, the video was uploaded for a second time, delaying the event by almost an hour.
	2021		In the most personal tone ever, once more displaying the flag of Ruthenia and the Crown in the background and counting with the speech by the Consul Emeritus of Delvera recorded on audio, the Emperor mentioned the importance of family, friends, and choices and remarked familiar milestones..
	2022		In a short speech, the theme of reconciliation was the focus of the message.

See also

• Karno-Ruthenian Monarchy
• Oscar I