- King Charles gave his first-ever Christmas speech to the whole country.
- He broke with royal tradition by standing while he spoke.
- The annual pre-recorded royal message aired at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.
During his first Christmas speech, King Charles broke a royal tradition that his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, had kept for many years.
On Sunday, King Charles gave his first-ever Christmas speech to the whole country.
Reports say that Queen Elizabeth almost always sat down when she gave a speech, but King Charles broke with tradition by standing while he spoke.
In his first Christmas message, King Charles praised the people of the UK for their “heartfelt solidarity.”
In the annual pre-recorded royal message, which aired at 15:00 GMT, King Charles told the country from the chapel at Windsor Castle, where he was standing next to a sparkling Christmas tree, that this time of year is “especially sad for all of us who have lost loved ones.”
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In his inaugural Christmas message, Charles said both he and his late mother shared “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others”.
“This is the essence of our community and the very foundation of our society,” he added, praising public sector workers from the armed forces to emergency responders to teachers.”
