The tricks and stagecraft involved in producing the Queen’s Speech

IN this most tumultuous of years, surely the one person you know you can trust is the Queen?

Er, not quite.

For Her Majesty’s Christmas Day message, though a firm festive viewing favourite, all is not what it seems.

Instead of a genuine glimpse into the Royal Family’s festive fun, what we see when we tune in to the annual 3pm broadcast is — wait for it — a tree decorated with baubles from the late Sir Terry Wogan’s office party, stage-prop presents and rows of cards donated by a family from Twickenham!

Carol Golder, a long-serving former member of the TV production team behind the broadcast, has revealed the tricks and stagecraft involved in the Queen’s Speech.

And that includes the fact that for years, she’s served as the Queen’s body double.

Carol, who was the production’s set designer between 1988 and 2012, admits: “They used me for about 10 years to make sure there would be no unfortunate clashes, like a Christmas tree branch appearing to grow out of the Queen’s head.

“Because the Queen is 5ft 4ins and I am 5ft 5ins, I had to stand in my stockinged feet.”

Carol would also read the script on autocue several times before the Queen arrived to help the sound crew check the acoustics.

And, yes, she was the source of the Christmas cards with which she would dress the set to give it a more festive feel.

“The Palace would supply genuine cards for the spots closest to the Queen, but there were times when the cameras swept over a wider expanse so we had to bring our own,” she laughs.

“On one occasion, we were filming in the library at Sandringham and Lord Fellowes, then the Queen’s Private Secretary, opened one and asked: ‘So who are John and Carol?’”

And I’m afraid we mere mortals would be wasting our time scrutinising the screen for any insights into Her Majesty’s taste in tree decorations.

Carol says it was the broadcaster’s responsibility to provide them, and there was never a specific budget.

“One year, Terry Wogan threw his regular party at the BBC and there were masses of baubles — so I borrowed them for that year’s broadcast,” she adds, admitting she kept them for the following year.

Even the tree itself had to be provided by the broadcaster — unless, of course, the recording was at Sandringham where the trees were grown on estate land.

George V delivered the first Christmas speech from a small office at Sandringham, but during Carol’s time on the speech, as well as at Sandringham, it was delivered from a children’s party at the royal stables, live from the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, Windsor Castle, Combermere Barracks at Windsor, Buckingham Palace and Southwark Cathedral.

The Queen likes to arrive for filming at 11am and to record the script two or three times, usually for production reasons as opposed to mistakes in her delivery.

She sees the unedited footage immediately after recording and then she and the Duke of Edinburgh are given previews before transmission.

It’s never a bundle of laughs, and Carol reveals: “The soundman once tried to coax a smile out of her by attaching tinsel, a sprig of holly and a sign saying ‘Smile’ to the camera boom arm.

“Her mouth immediately turned down — he didn’t try it again!”