As tradition dictates, King Charles III spoke in a televised speech this Wednesday, December 25, 2024, to wish his subjects a Merry Christmas. In this speech, recorded at the beginning of the month, the monarch paid tribute to medical staff who brought “support” and “comfort” to the royal family, at the end of this year marked by his cancer and that of his daughter-in-law Kate.
From a former hospital chapel in London, a symbolic choice, the 76-year-old king sent “special and sincere thanks to the dedicated doctors and nursing staff who, this year, have supported me and other members of my family, in the uncertainties and anxieties linked to the illness, and gave us the strength, care and comfort we needed,” he said. “I am also deeply grateful to all those who have kindly sent us words of sympathy and encouragement,” he added.
The year 2024 has been particularly trying for the British royal family with the announcement of the king's cancer in February and that of the Princess of Wales in March. Health concerns which forced them to move away from public life. Prince William confided last November that he had lived the “hardest year of his life”.
Anti-immigration riots, the Commonwealth and the war in Syria
The United Kingdom has also suffered some political and social earthquakes with the victory of Labor Party leader Keir Starmer last July and the anti-immigration riots which shook the country during the summer after the death of three young girls killed during an attack in knife. “I felt a deep sense of pride when here in the UK, in response to the anger and anarchy in many cities this summer, people came together not to repeat these behaviors, but to repair them“, declared the king in his speech.
He also sent a message of peace in the face of conflicts around the world. “This Christmas Day, we cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflicts in the Middle East, Central Europe, Africa and elsewhere pose a daily threat.”
The sovereign also praised “the diversity of cultures, ethnic identities and faiths” of Commonwealth countries. In October he participated in the summit of this organization in Samoa, at the end of which the member countries considered that the time had “come” to discuss “restorative justice” regarding the British colonial past and slavery. “Across the Commonwealth, we are united by the desire to listen to each other“, assured Charles III.
In keeping with tradition, Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, are meeting other members of the royal family for Christmas at the Sandringham residence in eastern England.
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