LONDON | Amid the UK’s cost of living crisis, King Charles III. promoted “solidarity” in his Christmas message aired on Sunday, the first since his accession to the throne.
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Dressed in a blue suit, the 74-year-old sovereign spoke from St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, where his mother Elizabeth II is buried, who reigned for more than seven decades before she died on September 8 at the age of 96. and her father, Prince Philip.
“I can’t thank you enough for the love and compassion you have shown to our entire family,” he said, emphasizing how emotional the Christmas celebration is “for everyone who has lost loved ones.”
He commended the military and emergency services who are “working tirelessly” to keep the country safe, as well as health workers while nurses recently witnessed an unprecedented strike.
“I especially want to pay tribute to all those wonderfully kind people who so generously donate ‘food’, ‘money’ or their ‘precious’ ‘time’ during these times of ‘great sorrow and trial,'” he added.
The king spoke of those struggling with war, starvation or natural disasters and those “looking here for ways to pay their bills or feed and heat their families” as inflation approaching 11%. “Such heartfelt solidarity is the most inspiring expression of loving your neighbor as yourself,” he said.
“Whatever your faith is or if you don’t have one, I believe that in that life-giving light and in the true humility that lies in service to others, we can find hope for the future,” he added, wishing “Christmas of peace, happiness and everlasting light”.
The Christmas message is one of the most important annual dates for British sovereigns, with the speech to Parliament and the monarch’s official birthday.
In the morning, the royal family attended Christmas Mass in Sandringham (east), reviving a tradition that has been disrupted since 2019 by the pandemic. With Prince Andrew, who paid millions in the US to avoid a sexual assault trial. Harry and Meghan, who talked about their exit from the monarchy in a documentary series on Netflix, were missing.
Charles III is to be crowned king in a “pioneering” ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6, while being “rooted in the long tradition and pomp of the monarchy,” according to Palace Buckingham.