Morrissey Turns Down Opportunity to Deliver Alternative Christmas Message

BY Alex HudsonPublished Dec 9, 2014

Morrissey's scorn for the royal family is well-documented, but the Smiths singer nevertheless passed up the opportunity to take on the Queen with his own alternative Christmas message.

Morrissey's yuletide message would have aired on the UK's Channel 4 at the same time as the Queen's Christmas address on the BBC. This would have put Moz in a head-to-head ratings war with the Queen herself.

And while the execs at Channel 4 doubtless assumed that the singer would relish this opportunity, he wrote an open letter [via True to You] saying that the monarch should be given the chance to deliver her annual address. He argued, "I don't think Christmas Day is quite the time to be trading slaps."

This sounds like an awfully polite response coming from the legendary provocateur. Then again, he also took some jabs at the Queen, saying that her Christmas address will serve to remind the public that "she has nothing to offer and nothing to say, and she has no place in modern Britain except as a figure of repression."

The full statement is as follows:

My view that the monarchy should be quietly dismantled for the good of England is reasonably well-known, but I don't think Christmas Day is quite the time to be trading slaps. The Queen should be allowed the impassioned trance of her annual address to the British people, if only to once again prove that, in her frozen posture, she has nothing to offer and nothing to say, and she has no place in modern Britain except as a figure of repression; no independent thought required. The Queen very well might be the most powerful woman in England, but she lacks the power to make herself loved, and the phony inflation of her family attacks all rational intellect.


All over the world highly civilized peoples exist without the automatic condescension of a 'royal' family. England can do the same, and will find more respect for doing so.


Meanwhile, Morrissey has postponed a few European shows after missing a flight from London to Athens. This has led to rescheduled dates in Athens and Istanbul, while two appearances in the Netherlands and one in Switzerland have been pushed back to sometime in 2015. His updated schedule is below.

Still, it's not all bad news for Mozzer. It an interview with Serbia's B92 [via Morrissey-solo], the vocalist said that he has a new album written, with recording hopefully slated for February.

Tour dates:

12/10 Belgrade, Serbia - Belexpocentar
12/12 Zagreb, Croatia - The Zagreb Fair
12/13 Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
12/15 Athens, Greece - Tae Kwon Do Arena
12/15 Gronigen, Netherlands - De Oosterpoort
12/16 Tilburg, Netherlands - 013

12/17 Istanbul, Turkey - Volkswagen Arena

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