Royal Family Attend Christmas Day Church Service
King Charles III and Queen Camilla, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, and their children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte, attended Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the king’s private Sandringham Estate on Thursday.
Following their church outing, King Charles delivered his annual Christmas address, continuing a royal tradition that began in 1932.
In his address, he reflected on life as a shared journey and called on people to embrace values like courage, reconciliation and unity in a divided and uncertain world, as per CNN.
The British sovereign said that “pilgrimage is a word less used today, but it has particular significance for our modern world.”
He continued, “It is about journeying forward into the future while also journeying back to remember the past and learn from its lessons.”
Charles reflected on the “courage and sacrifice” of World War II and praised “the way communities came together,” in his traditional speech which coincided with the 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict earlier this year.
“These are the values which have shaped our country and the Commonwealth,” the King continued. “As we hear of division, both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight.”
As the King spoke about “stories of the triumph of courage over adversity” giving him hope, footage of Princess Anne’s surprise trip to Ukraine in September was shown on screen. She undertook the official visit at the request of the UK’s Foreign Office to highlight “the traumatic experiences of children living on the frontline of the conflict,” Buckingham Palace said at the time.
Charles also hailed the “spontaneous bravery” of those who have instinctively put “themselves in harm’s way to defend others”, following the Manchester synagogue attack and Bondi Beach shooting.
As he spoke, video was shown of Charles meeting survivors and emergency responders in Manchester, before the broadcast showed people laying flowers at a memorial honouring Bondi victims and survivors in Australia. (ANI)
