King’s Speech live – Charles gives Christmas message after joining Kate and William at Sandringham

Charles offers message of hope in second festive broadcast of reign recorded at Buckingham Palace

The royal family in 2023: The year’s major stories

The King has delivered his Christmas message after joining other members of the royal family at Sandringham to celebrate Christmas Day.

The festive address – the second of Charles’s reign since the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 – was delivered at 3pm on Monday in Buckingham Palace’s Centre Room, which opens onto the famous balcony overlooking The Mall and was decorated with a living Christmas tree that will be replanted.

The King called on people to protect each other, delivered a powerful message about the environment and praised volunteers serving communities across the country.

Earlier, Charles and Camilla were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church.

It comes after the King and Queen waved to well-wishers while attending a Christmas Eve service at the church on Sunday.

Royal Christmases traditionally feature the greeting of people outside the church, and a family lunch with turkey and all the trimmings.

Sandringham House has been the private home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, and now belongs to the King.

Key Points

• Charles offers message of hope amid ‘tragic conflict around world’ in King’s Speech
• Read The King’s Christmas Day speech in full
• Charles and Camilla attend church service on Christmas day alongside other royals
• What traditions does the royal family have for Christmas?

[25 December 2023 22:41 · Alexander Butler]

I’m a royal expert – here’s what you need to know about the Sandringham Christmas

Royal Christmases have an established pattern. To watch the royal family arrive for church is to see largely the same figures but in different outfits, and the children growing up from year to year.

This is the second Christmas of the King’s reign, both of which have been celebrated at Sandringham. So what is different this time? There were touching scenes of young royal cousins holding hands, and there was a spirit of family reconciliation in the air.

Princess Beatrice included her seven-year-old stepson, known as “Wolfie”, son of her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. For the second year running, the King allowed Prince Andrew to join the family for this service.

[25 December 2023 20:30 · Alexander Butler]

Duchess of York joins Royal Christmas service at Sandringham

Sarah, Duchess of York was publicly back at the heart of the royal family after joining the King and Queen at church on Christmas Day.

The former royal, who has had a troubled relationship with the monarchy, was pictured, smiling, and glancing towards the waiting media as she walked beside her ex-husband, the disgraced Duke of York.

Royal fans were treated to the sight of the Prince and Princess of Wales walking hand in hand with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis from Sandringham house on their way to St Mary Magdalene Church.

The Duchess of York was pictured smiling as she joined the royal family on Christmas Day (AP)

[25 December 2023 19:31 · Alexander Butler]

Read The King’s Christmas Day speech in full

The King has called on people to protect each other, delivered a powerful message about the environment and praised volunteers serving communities across the country in the second Christmas broadcast of his reign.

The festive address – the second since the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 – was delivered standing up in Buckingham Palace’s centre room, which opens onto the famous balcony overlooking The Mall.

Charles called on people to “protect each other” as he said the world is living through a time of increasingly tragic conflict.

[25 December 2023 18:30 · Alexander Butler]

King Charles’s five-point plan as he urges trillions of dollars to tackle climate crisis

King Charles set out an action plan for tackling the climate crisis based on five key suggestions at Cop28, saying up to five trillion dollars will be needed each year, Jane Dalton reports.

His proposals, made in the form of questions, included bringing together different types of organisations to face the crisis, and involving private and goodwill finance, on top of public money.

Secondly, the King suggested targeting that cash carefully at projects driving sustainable changes and away from dangerous practices in all industries worldwide.

[25 December 2023 17:50 · Alexander Butler]

Watch: King Charles urges public to protect environment in Christmas message

King Charles III urged the public to help protect the environment in his 2023 Christmas message.

His Majesty spoke from the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace, where he addressed the nation and Commonwealth countries.

Charles, a keen environmental campaigner who delivered a speech at the recent Cop28 UN Climate Change summit, said: “We care for the Earth for the sake of our children’s children.

“During my lifetime I have been so pleased to see a growing awareness of how we must protect the Earth and our natural world as the one home which we all share.”

[25 December 2023 16:00 · Tara Cobham]

Prince and Princess of Wales release photo of children to mark Christmas Day

The Prince and Princess of Wales have released a photo on Christmas Day of their three children.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis appear without their parents in the black and white photograph.

Charlotte sits smiling between her two brothers, with her arms around each of them.

They are wearing white shirts, with Charlotte and George in trousers and Louis in shorts.

The photo was posted on social media with the caption: “Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! W & C.”

Luke O'Reilly reports:

[25 December 2023 15:45 · Tara Cobham]

Skies of Bethlehem ‘full of fear’, says archbishop in Christmas Day sermon

The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his Christmas Day sermon to highlight antisemitism in the UK and the suffering of children caught up in the Israel-Hamas war.

Referring to Jesus Christ’s birthplace, which is now in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Most Rev Justin Welby said “the skies of Bethlehem are full of fear rather than angels and glory”.

He compared the turbulent conditions of Jesus’s birth with the modern-day plight of children in the troubled region.

Sam Hall reports:

[25 December 2023 15:33 · Tara Cobham]

Watch in full: Charles delivers 2023 King’s Speech from Buckingham Palace

King Charles III‘s delivered 2023’s King’s Speech with a Christmas message focused on paying tribute to “selfless” community volunteers and urging the public to protect the environment.

It is Charles’s second King’s Speech, and was delivered in the Centre Room in Buckingham Palace which leads on to the royal residence’s iconic balcony.

His Majesty also referenced conflicts around the world, saying that he prayed “We can... do all in our power to protect each other.”

The living tree seen in today’s broadcast will be replanted after the broadcast in a nod to the King’s environmental interests.

Holly Patrick reports:

[25 December 2023 15:17 · Tara Cobham]

Read The King’s Christmas Day speech in full

The King has called on people to protect each other, delivered a powerful message about the environment and praised volunteers serving communities across the country in the second Christmas broadcast of his reign.

Here is the full text of the King’s Christmas broadcast:

[25 December 2023 15:16 · Tara Cobham]

King offers message of hope in speech amid ‘increasingly tragic conflict around world’

The King has called on people to “protect each other” as he said the world is living through a time of increasingly tragic conflict in his Christmas broadcast.

The festive address – the second of Charles’s reign since the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 – was delivered standing up in Buckingham Palace’s Centre Room, which opens onto the famous balcony overlooking The Mall.

The King also praised the “selfless army” of volunteers serving communities across the country, describing them as the “essential backbone of our society”. He said the presence of community stalwarts among his coronation guests emphasised the meaning of the ceremony – “a call to us all to serve one another”.

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