King’s Christmas speech draws 2.3 million viewers

Nearly 2.3 million people have watched yesterday's Christmas speech of King Willem-Alexander, according to figures from the Audience Research Foundation. with reporting by Audrey Graanoogst In his first Christmas address King Willem-Alexander used his forum to speak about human relationships. He described Christmas as "a time for reflection on our existence." The King said Christmas reminds us of personal losses, referring to the loss of his brother Friso earlier this year, "for those who lost a loved one, the pain feels more intense during these days. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"26885","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-11893","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"168","alt":"King Willem-Alexander at Villa Eikenhorst in Wassenaar before his first Christmas address at Wassenaar (Photo: Frank van Beek\/RVD)"}}]] King Willem-Alexander at Villa Eikenhorst in Wassenaar before his first Christmas address at Wassenaar (Photo: Frank van Beek/RVD) "The realization to be part of a larger circle of family and friends may provide comfort and strength. Their support, oftentimes in silence and in the background, is gratifying." The king also spoke of the importance of working together and the need to strive for better interpersonal relations. According to the figures published this morning, the Christmas Day broadcast attracted 1.66 million viewers, while the second airing of the speech attracted 642,000 viewers. For the second year in a row the Christmas speech leaked into the media prematurely. Before 13:00 the speech was published online through an unsecured link. In 2012, the Christmas speech was attracted more than 1.1 million viewers. That speech was made by Princess Beatrix.