Queen Woos Public With Informal Speech

With some innovative use of television, Queen Elizabeth took a new step Thursday across the gap that divides her from own people. Her annual Christmas message, normally an exercise in stiffness and protocol, became more of a fireside chat, interspersed with extensive footage of the funeral of Princess Diana and royal encounters with ordinary people.

Many people in Britain had wanted to hear from her again that she shared their grief about Diana’s loss, and they did, quickly.

“We all felt the shock and sorrow of Diana’s death,” the queen said in somber tones near the start of the 10-minute address. “Thousands upon thousands of you expressed your grief most poignantly in the wonderful flowers and messages left in tribute to her. This was a great comfort to all those close to her.”

She called the funeral at Westminster Abbey “almost unbearably sad.”

Wearing a simple blue dress and pearl necklace, the queen paused as emotional scenes from the national mourning of Diana’s death last August were replayed - the sea of flowers outside Diana’s residence, Kensington Palace, Charles and his two sons greeting mourners and walking behind the casket.

With the queen’s tones of sympathy, it seemed as if she were narrating one of the year-end retrospectives crowding the British television line-up in recent days. The address was the first to be produced by the television network ITN, following a long monopoly by the state-owned British Broadcasting Corp.

“She put forward a positive image - like there’s going to be change,” said hotel employee Natasha Tatarynowicz after watching. “… It felt good.”

Gerry Gold, a taxi driver, suggested that “they’re trying to get her popularity back. They’ve slipped a few points in the past year.”

She made no impression either way, however, with the many Britons who did not tune in. “It means nothing to me - I’m not a monarchy person,” said James O’Sullivan, a bartender.