King Charles speaks of 'poignant' time for those grieving in Christmas Day message

King Charles III spoke of how the festive season can be a “particularly poignant time” for “all of us who have lost loved ones.”

In the opening moments of his first-ever Christmas Day message as sovereign, he spoke of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

“We feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition,” he said.

The King also thanked the British people for their “deeply touching” messages following the death of the UK’s longest-serving monarch.

“I cannot thank you enough for the love and sympathy you have shown,” he said.

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