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Alsharq Tribune- Sarah Benkraouda
The King will deliver his Christmas message from Westminster Abbey this year, and is expected to pay tribute to Britain’s war veterans.
It marks the second time that the 77-year-old monarch has broken with tradition and recorded the annual address outside royal residences.
The choice of location in the Abbey’s Lady Chapel reflects the theme of pilgrimage, which is understood to be prominent in His Majesty’s address.
The Abbey continues to be a major church of pilgrimage, with people visiting to remember the life and legacy of Edward the Confessor, whose shrine sits inside the church walls.
It is also steeped in royal history and has been Britain’s coronation church since 1066. In May 2023, the King and Queen followed in the footsteps of 39 monarchs before them when they were crowned at the Abbey.
The Henry VII Lady Chapel, where the King’s message was filmed, is also the burial place of 15 kings and queens, including Elizabeth I, Mary I and Mary Queen of Scots.
The King’s Christmas message will include reflections on the heroics of Britain’s Second World War veterans, with 2025 having been the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The Royal family has commemorated the anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day extensively, both nationwide and abroad, and The Mirror reported that the King was once again expected to pay tribute to this generation.
Earlier this year, he told the few remaining Second World War veterans of the “unwavering and heartfelt gratitude” for “the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation who made that hard-fought victory possible”.
Charles is also expected to touch on the urgent need to protect the environment, which he has made a lifelong cause.
As part of his championing of multi-faith cohesion, he is expected to reflect on his historic trip to the Vatican in October, when he became the first monarch to take part in an ecumenical service with a pope since the Reformation.
It was a historic moment when the King, the supreme governor of the Church of England, prayed with the Pope.
Last year, the King broadcast a deeply personal Christmas message in which he offered his heartfelt thanks to the “selfless” doctors and nurses who had helped him and his family though the “uncertainties and anxieties of illness”.
He was diagnosed with cancer last year, and has been undergoing weekly treatment since last February.
While he is not expected to discuss his health issues in his annual address, earlier this month he delivered the “good news” that his cancer treatment would be reduced in the new year.
In a televised message to the nation, he said he had reached a “milestone” in his treatment, calling it a “personal blessing” and giving thanks for early diagnosis and medical advances.
It comes as he prepares to host the Royal family, without the former Duke and Duchess of York, at Sandringham for Christmas.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the King’s younger brother, is facing the prospect of another lonely holiday period at his Royal Lodge home some 140 miles away from the wider family after being stripped of his titles and forced to give up his Windsor home next year.
It followed the revelation that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had remained in touch with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile, for longer than he had admitted.
