How to watch the King's Speech 2025 online from anywhere

How to watch the King's Christmas speech in the UK

King Charles III’s Christmas Day broadcast will be shown on Christmas Day (December 25) with coverage expected to begin at 3pm GMT. You can watch the speech live from the UK on BBC One and ITV1.

The broadcast will also be available to stream live and on demand via BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Sky Go, and BBC Sounds, with radio coverage on BBC Radio 4. Clips and the full speech are also usually uploaded shortly afterwards to the Royal Family’s official YouTube and social media channels.

You must be covered by a valid TV licence before watching any live broadcasts.

The standard TV licence costs £174.50 per year and covers all terrestrial channels on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin TV, as well as live streaming via BBC iPlayer on phones, tablets, and other devices.

If you’re fully covered by a TV licence, you can stream Baller League UK matches from your preferred device without restrictions, whether at home or on the move. If you're not celebrating Christmas in the UK this year, you can still tune into the speech with the help of a VPN.

How to watch the King's Christmas speech outside of the UK

If you're travelling at the moment, you won't be able to access the terrestrial channels and livestream above to watch the speech. Streaming services determine your location using your IP address, a unique identifier assigned by your internet provider whenever you connect online. These addresses are linked to geographic regions, allowing platforms to enforce content restrictions based on licensing agreements.

Your IP address is typically assigned dynamically each time you reconnect, though some providers use static IPs. The best VPN deals let you mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere. This enables access to geo-restricted content that's only available for a specific region.

However, many streaming platforms actively block VPNs to enforce their geo-restrictions and licensing rules. For example, BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, so it cannot be accessed from other countries, since it's only available to those who pay the annual £174.50 TV licence fee that pays for its content.

To access BBC iPlayer from abroad, you'll need to connect to a UK server through your VPN. Once connected, visit the BBC iPlayer website or download the app for iOS or Android devices.

Just sign in to the same BBC Account that you use at home, and that's registered to the address where you pay the TV licence fee.

ExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN with accolades from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world.

Monthly prices start from £1.99 and unlocks ExpressVPN on 10x devices. Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries. The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances.

The service works across all your devices - Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, smart TVs and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.

1. Sign up for a VPN — like ExpressVPN
2. Download the app to your preferred device (the best VPN deals include unlimited access to apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, more).
3. Open the app and connect to a VPN server location in UK
4. Connect to BBC iPlayer on the device where you'd like to watch
5. Sign-in to BBC iPlayer or create an account
6. Watch the 2025 Glastonbury Festival coverage from anywhere in the world

Of course, this technique should only be used by licence fee payers who will be outside of the UK while coverage of the festival is broadcast and don't want to miss out on the shows they've paid for with the annual £174.50 fee.

ExpressVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to watch the entire festival risk-free and recover your investment if you're not satisfied with the service.

VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. However, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're using these popular apps for legal use. Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service.

Benefits of ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries, providing access to global coverage. It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering.

With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunnelling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.

• Unlock 4 months for FREE with latest ExpressVPN deal

Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company were collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.

ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit on the number of ExpressVPN apps that you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on eight gadgets at once.

It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.

ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers.

It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.

What is a VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. VPNs can conceal your online activities by routing traffic through an encrypted tunnel that connects to secure servers worldwide.

The most reliable VPNs employ the same encryption standard as governments in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring that even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) connected to Wi-Fi cannot record the websites you visit, the duration of your sessions on each site, or your current location. This protection extends to advertisers, trackers, and hackers, preventing them from monitoring your online behaviour.

Furthermore, personal information entered into online forms and sensitive data transmitted to and from your device will be safeguarded from hackers using strong encryption provided by a VPN.

• Best VPN deals
• Cheap VPNs