Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Jake Meeus-Jones & Steven Smith

Royal superfan Andy watches the King's Christmas speech at 3pm every day

Meet the Royal superfan who watches the King's speech every day - after tuning into the Queen's Speech daily for the past three decades. Andy Park, 59, pretends every day is December 25 and sits down at 3pm to hear what His Majesty has to say.

He keeps his Christmas decorations up year-round and plans to record the Kings' upcoming Coronation on his DVD player so he can watch it back. Andy still watches the Queen's speeches too and picks a different one each day and says the late monarch's address from 1997 is his favourite. He says King Charles' first speech was "very low" compared to his late mother's, but believes it was because of the "problems the family faced with Prince Harry and Prince Andrew".

Andy, an electrician, from Melksham, Wiltshire, said: "I've watched it every day since Christmas. I juggle them up so one day I might listen to 1997 and the next day I might listen to 2004.

"I used to find something new in them each time but not so much now as I've seen them so many times. I still eat a Christmas dinner every single day while watching.

"I haven't learned the latest word-for-word but the Queen used to say, 'God bless you and a very Merry Christmas.' Charles didn't say that, but he joked about little things as though nothing really mattered but it does matter.

"I think next year he'll be better when there's a proper Queen Camilla instead of just a consort. It was his first time doing it and he kept it very low and didn't want to say too much because of the problems with Harry and Andrew.

"Poor old Charles - he had to deal with all that and that's why he kept it so low. I don't think the Queen would have talked about it if she was still here. I think King Charles wants to give Andrew another chance."

Subscribe here for the latest news where you live

Andy hopes to attend a street party to celebrate King Charles' Coronation on Saturday, but admits he's a bit "disappointed" not to have had an invite to attend the Coronation.

He said: "It's the first time Charles has been on the throne. It's important to me and important to everyone else. We've got to get used to seeing him on the throne.

"I'm a bit disappointed that I'm not invited to the celebrations in London, but you can't have everything. But I won't miss it and I'll have the DVD player working to record the whole thing."

Andy keeps his Christmas decorations up year-round and plans to record the King's upcoming Coronation so he can watch it back (SWNS)

Andy claims to have spent more than £1million on Christmas decorations and pictures since his Royal obsession began in 1993, funded by his electrician work and savings. He's also hosted Christmas parties attended by the likes of Dave Hill from Slade, Gloria Hunniford, Joey Essex and Eamonn Holmes and his wife Ruth Langsford.

Andy said: "I've always liked the royals and Christmas. Everyone watches the King's speech and because I have Christmas every day, I watch the speeches every day."

Andy said he plans to continue watching the King's speech daily - whatever happens.

He said: "I've always watched it and always will, it's become a tradition for me. My favourite Queen's Speech was the Princess Diana one. We all loved her and when she went it shocked the world. I was lucky enough to meet her, so it'll always be my favourite."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.