Since Christmas day in 1932, when George V took to the airwave to address listeners to aim for ‘prosperity without self-seeking’, little did he know that he was starting somewhat a festive tradition that continues to this day. This year’s Christmas message from the Queen of England provoked an excitable response on Twitter – all because the Queen made reference to Game of Thrones.
The speech, which was themed around reconciliation, included a section on her visit to Belfast last June where she toured the Game of Thrones set. ‘The benefits of reconciliation were clear to see when I visited Belfast in June,’ said the Queen, who is currently at her Norfolk home, Sandringham. ‘While my tour of the set of Game Of Thrones may have gained most attention, my visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol will remain vividly in my mind.’
Crumlin Road Gaol, which closed in 1996, was one of the prisons used to house IRA convicts during The Troubles but has now been turned into a museum. The same day, the Queen visited the set of the HBO series where she inspected the fabled Iron Throne, before being introduced to cast members Lena Headey, who plays Queen Cersei, and Kit Harrington (Jon Snow).
Following the mention in the Queen’s speech, Game of Thrones fans took to Twitter, with one, Sophie Corfan, exclaiming: ‘Did the Queen seriously just name drop Game of Thrones!? ‘I thought she’d have been more of an Orange is the New Black fan. #QueensSpeech’. Another, Caroline Carpenter, simply wrote: ‘Love that #GameOfThrones got a shout out in the Queen’s speech!’
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