Britain’s King Charles III struck an unusually personal tone when he delivered his third Christmas speech since becoming king on Wednesday.
In his Christmas greeting, Charles paid tribute to the “selfless” doctors and nurses who provided “strength, care and comfort” during both his own and daughter-in-law Kate Middleton’s cancer treatment this year.
The king expressed his “heartfelt thanks” to the doctors who supported him and his family “through the uncertainty and worries of the disease.”
Buckingham Palace announced in February that 76-year-old Charles had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.
A month later, Kate, wife of his son and heir, Crown Prince William, announced that she was undergoing preventive chemotherapy for cancer. The treatment was completed in September.
William has previously said that the year has been “brutal” for the family.
In his speech, the king also touched on themes other than the illness that has filled so much for the royal family in 2024.
Charles also spoke of his “deep pride” at how communities responded to the riots following the fatal stabbings of three young girls in the town of Southport.
Here, local communities had responded by repairing “not just buildings, but also relationships,” says Charles, who, along with Queen Camilla, helped honor the local community in Southport a few days ago.
– I felt a deep sense of pride here in the UK when communities responded to anger and lawlessness in several cities this summer by not repeating this behavior but making amends, says Charles.
The riots, which hit mosques and asylum centers among others, were condemned as “right-wing radical crime” by the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer.
Before Wednesday’s Christmas speech aired on television, Charles attended the royal family’s traditional Christmas service.
Charles and Camilla walked the short distance from Sandringham House in Norfolk in eastern England to St. Mary Magdalene Church, where they passed a crowd of onlookers.
They were accompanied by Prince William and his wife Kate as well as their three children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
William walked hand-in-hand with Charlotte, while Kate, wearing a green coat and hat, smiled at the crowd.
Also in the group were Princess Anne and Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie.
Absent was Prince Andrew, who has come under fire this year for links to an alleged Chinese spy.
The royal Christmas speech is a tradition that dates back to a radio address by George V in 1932.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
