Queen's touching tribute in Christmas broadcast

The first Christmas message was delivered in 1932, when Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather, George V, addressed the nation with a speech written by Rudyard Kipling.

And 80 years on, the Christmas Day message is still anticipated by millions of people around the country – and across the world.

For many, listening to or watching the Christmas broadcast is more than a part of the Christmas Day routine as it is one of the few occasions that a British monarch addresses its subjects.

But there was an added poignancy in the Queen’s Christmas Day message this year, and not least because it is now the second consecutive year that Covid has dominated the national consciousness.

A substantial portion of the Queen’s Christmas broadcast was dedicated to her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in April earlier this year, aged 99.

In her 68th Christmas broadcast, the Queen opened by remembering the Duke of Edinburgh.

She said: “Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many, Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones.

“This year, especially, I understand why.

“But for me, in the months since the death of my beloved Philip, I have drawn great comfort from the warmth and affection of the many tributes to his life and work – from around the country, the Commonwealth and the world.

Remembered – the Queen dedicated much of her broadcast to her late husband, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh

“His sense of service, intellectual curiosity and capacity to squeeze fun out of any situation – were all irrepressible.

“That mischievous, enquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him.

“But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings – and as much as I and my family miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas.

“We felt his presence as we, like millions around the world, readied ourselves for Christmas.”

But the Queen looked forward to 2022, a year that will mark her Platinum Jubilee as well as the Commonwealth Games.

“Next summer, we look forward to the Commonwealth Games,” she said.

“The baton is currently travelling the length and breadth of the Commonwealth, heading towards Birmingham, a beacon of hope on its journey.

“It will be a chance to celebrate the achievements of athletes and the coming-together of like-minded nations.

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“And February, just six weeks from now, will see the start of my Platinum Jubilee year, which I hope will be an opportunity for people everywhere to enjoy a sense of togetherness, a chance to give thanks for the enormous changes of the last 70 years – social, scientific and cultural – and also to look ahead with confidence.”

She continued on the theme of looking towards the future by dedicating the final section of her speech towards children.

“I am sure someone somewhere today will remark that Christmas is a time for children.

“It’s an engaging truth, but only half the story.

“Perhaps it’s truer to say that Christmas can speak to the child within us all.

“Adults, when weighed down with worries, sometimes fail to see the joy in simple things, where children do not.

“And for me and my family, even with one familiar laugh missing this year, there will be joy in Christmas, as we have the chance to reminisce, and see anew the wonder of the festive season through the eyes of our young children, of whom we were delighted to welcome four more this year.

“They teach us all a lesson – just as the Christmas story does – that in the birth of a child, there is a new dawn with endless potential.

“It is this simplicity of the Christmas story that makes it so universally appealing, simple happenings that formed the starting point of the life of Jesus — a man whose teachings have been handed down from generation to generation, and have been the bedrock of my faith.

“His birth marked a new beginning.

“As the carol says: ‘The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.’

“I wish you all a very happy Christmas.”