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Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II delivered her annual Christmas message. Here she is seen at Christmas church services. The British Queen is the longest-reigning British monarch in history, an honor she reached in the year 2015. Previously Queen Victoria had held that distinction.
A Message of Tolerance
Queen Elizabeth used her Christmas message to deliver a message of tolerance and respect. “Through the many changes I have seen over the years, faith, family and friendship have been not only a constant for me but a source of personal comfort and reassurance,” she said in speech that was recorded previously to air on television.
“Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding.” The queen is 92-years-old. It's unclear what was driving the queen toward her message of tolerance: Brexit perhaps, or the reports of feuding in her own family, or even the presidency of President Donald Trump.
Kensington Palace's Twitter page trumpeted a message of family unity. "Merry Christmas! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex join The Queen and Members of the @RoyalFamily at the Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church," read a tweet from Kensington Palace.
According to Fox News, "The queen's pre-recorded annual message to Britain and the 52 other Commonwealth nations is scheduled to be televised in the afternoon. Elizabeth made her first Christmas Day broadcast on the radio in 1952, the year she ascended to the throne."
It's a family tradition for the Royal Family to walk to church. The Queen and her typically share gifts on Christmas Eve, Fox News reports, which is a German tradition. However, the Queen is said to look down on extravagant gifts and, instead, the tradition within the family is to share smaller gifts that are jokes.
The Queen's husband, Prince Philip, did not attend the Royal Family's church service for Christmas on December 25, 2018. However, he's 97-years-old and has been ill in the past, although Philip seems remarkably spry and healthy for such an advanced age. The Queen was surrounded by other members of her vast family during the Christmas church services walk, however, including her son, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, and the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Prince Edward and his wife, Sophia, the Countess of Wessex, and their two children. When she Queen delivered her Christmas message, she was sitting in front of photos of her family members as well, and it's become popular support to try to read messages into which pictures she chooses to highlight to the camera. This time, photos that could be seen were of Prince Philip and a picture of Prince Charles when he was a boy.