Key takeaways:
- On Saturday, Queen Elizabeth delivered a particularly personal message in her annual Christmas Day address, her first since her husband’s death.
- The Queen mentioned the Commonwealth Games and her Platinum Jubilee. Elizabeth has been on the throne for seven decades.
Queen Elizabeth delivered a particularly personal message in her annual Christmas Day address on Saturday, her first since the death of her husband, Prince Philip.
The Queen’s speech was followed by footage of Elizabeth and Philip through the decades and a voiceover snippet from the Queen’s speech on their golden wedding anniversary in 1997. In the letter, she called her husband, who died in April at the age of 99, her “strength and stay.”
“Even though Christmas is a time of joy and good cheer for many, it can be difficult for those who have lost loved ones. I can see why this year in particular.” The Queen said in a pre-recorded Christmas address from Windsor Castle’s White Drawing Room.
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“However, in the months since my beloved Philip’s death, I have found great comfort in the warmth and affection expressed in the many tributes to his life and work from across the country, the Commonwealth, and the world.”
In the foreground, a framed photograph of the coupling arm in arm sat. She wore the same sapphire chrysanthemum brooch in both the photo and her Christmas address.
“His sense of service, intellectual curiosity, and ability to squeeze the fun out of any situation,” the Queen said of Philip.
His legacy, she said, included the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which aims to foster young people’s personal growth, as well as his environmental work.
Christmas arrives amid a COVID outbreak.
The monarch’s televised Christmas Day message is a British tradition, a time when the monarch reflects on the holiday’s meaning and the country’s challenges.
During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the Queen used the occasion to send a message of hope, praising the “indomitable spirit” of scientists, emergency workers, and others who had risen to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
This year, the Queen addressed the ongoing pandemic, which has resulted in multiple lockdowns in England. Because of the coronavirus restrictions in place at Philip’s funeral, Elizabeth had to sit alone in St. George’s Chapel.
In the run-up to Christmas, the cases number has risen again, with the United Kingdom reporting a new daily high of 122,186 cases on Friday. It was the third day in a row that cases had surpassed 100,000.
“While COVID means we won’t be able to celebrate as fully as we would like,” the Queen said, citing the singing of carols, decorating the tree, exchanging gifts, and watching a favorite film as examples of the holiday’s many happy traditions.
“It’s no surprise that families treasure their Christmas routines,” she said.
“We see our children and their families embrace the roles, traditions, and values that are so important to us as they are passed down through the generations, sometimes updated for changing times.”
Elizabeth is the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, at 95 years old. This year, her health has been in the spotlight after she was advised to rest and had a brief hospital stay after missing several high-profile engagements, including the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
In her Christmas speech, the Queen mentioned the Commonwealth Games and her Platinum Jubilee. Elizabeth has been on the throne for seven decades.
She expressed the hope that it would be “an opportunity for people everywhere to experience a sense of togetherness, a chance to give thanks for the enormous social, scientific, and cultural changes of the last 70 years, as well as to look ahead with confidence.”
Source: CBC News
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