This year, King Charles delivered his Christmas speech at Fitzrovia Chapel, a former London hospital chapel. Royal commentators theorized that Charles chose the location so that people wouldn’t analyze the family photos on display on one of his desks, because usually the Christmas speeches are staged in one of palaces or castles. Charles apparently chose the location because it was associated with a hospital, and because the Windsors have had a lot of medical and health crises in 2024. Charles said, in part: “From a personal point of view, I offer special, heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who, this year, have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed.” I saw people talking about how it was notable that Charles didn’t mention Kate by name, but it’s possible that he wanted to be more general about it because of Princess Anne’s head injury and hospitalization. Meanwhile, all of the royal commentators are talking about how there was no mention of the Sussexes as well.
King Charles crucially left Prince Harry and Prince Andrew out of his Christmas Day speech. While his annual message featured snippets of Prince William and the wider Royal Family, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, and his disgraced brother Prince Andrew, were not mentioned at all. According to royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop, the omission was a sign that the King had ‘clearly made up his mind’.
Analysing the King’s speech, Tessa told The Mirror: “Lest we are in any doubt, the clever film that accompanied this speech, underscored the importance of the King’s royal A-Team, on hand to deliver what Charles considers to be an alternative to global killing: a listening and understanding mission that leads to actions for the good of all.”
“As well as a replay of the King’s famous hug with the New Zealand women’s rugby team, there was footage of Kate at Trooping the Colour, Camilla in Scotland and Australia, William serving food to the homeless and, of course, those royal stalwarts, Princess Anne and the Edinburghs.”
Tessa noted: “Crucially, also-rans Princes Andrew and Harry were nowhere to be seen. The King has clearly made up his mind about how to ‘act for the good of all’, choosing to focus on family strengths, not weaknesses, to shore up a nation (and a world) for a difficult year ahead.”
It has been years since Harry and Andrew featured in the royal monarch’s Christmas speech, with the late Queen Elizabeth notably missing the pair from her message in 2019. The King has since ditched the tradition altogether.
The thing is, I don’t really care if Charles failed to mention or reference his son or one of his brothers in a Christmas speech. I get the idea that this is always supposed to be a more general speech, rather than a laundry list of grievances or a roll call of family members. The thing that bugs me is that Charles publicly ignoring one of his sons (not to mention a daughter-in-law and two of his grandkids) reflects how Charles treats the Sussexes privately, with zero interest or care or warmth. It simply doesn’t reflect well on Charles as a king or a father that he’s allowed this estrangement to metastasize to this point. Which was also what Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast said about the Christmas morning walk in his piece, “Royals’ Walk to Christmas Service Reveals Deep Family Dysfunction.”
The annual walk to the Church of St, Mary Magdalene is supposed to exude an impression of unity, stability, and conventional family values. Despite a rapturous reception by a crowd estimated at over 1,000 at this year’s promenade, it exposed deep fractures within the family.
While Kate and William and their children George, Charlotte and Louis were the stars of the show, there was zero public acknowledgement of the king’s other son, Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, or their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who are in self-imposed exile in California.
I’m not sure how there could have been an “acknowledgement” of the Sussexes at the walk to church, but perhaps Charles and his courtiers could have NOT briefed the media that no invitations were extended to the Sussexes and that Charles does not give a sh-t about one of his sons and two of his grandkids?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- King Charles III during the recording of his Christmas message at the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 11 Dec 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III during the recording of his Christmas message at the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 11 Dec 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla attending the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham Where: Sandringham, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate Where: Sandringham, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate Featuring: King Charles III Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend a Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate Featuring: Queen Camilla, King Charles III Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2024 Credit: Cover Images
Charles also snubbed Kate in his Christmas speech
The King’s Speech – like the Queen’s Speech – is a general speech made as Head of State and Head of the Church of England. It isn’t a family roll call.
Shame on petty Prince Charles. How can he expect people to look up to and respect him as head of the church?definitely NOT my role model!
The thing is: I’m not at all worried about KFC, this is the legacy he is living behind. He is going down in history, not for the good things he did (which honest I can’t mention because I don’t know of anything nice Charles has done) but for the bad things he did and how horribly he treated both his first wife and his youngest son. That’s what he will be remembered for. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving living thing. And the Kings Trust is a money laundering scheme so, add that to the horrible things Charles has done for humanity.
@Lawrence.
Agree 💯.
Agree 💯… he is a horrible man treating everyone around him badly except Camilla for whom he will give up everything and everyone.
Once again the left-behind royals are in a rush to point out how petty and bitter they truly are.
All that color around his lip looking like SHEIN Dracula. Lol…Raggedy-ass hater.
Good! I’d prefer that he kept their names out of his mouth.
Same JanetDr. We see enough performative nonsense from those folks. Allow the Sussexes to enjoy their family and Christmas in peace
I think there are times when it’s better to just acknowledge there’s a rift and stop making a token gesture here and there. As an Anglophile I am sorry that Harry’s kids won’t grow up to follow English Premier League, have a team, enjoy village and pub life, and know something of their father’s homeland. But here we are.
I too am glad that KC didn’t mention the Sussexes. He played the aggrieved father/grandfather card until Harry’s willingness to fly across the world to attend the coronation, and then just to sit with his ailing father for 45 minutes, made that ploy impossible to sustain.
There is a wound and rather than picking at it, let it heal over.
The speech has ALWAYS focused on the so-called “working” royals (aka the ones on the public dole). The only times that QE’s other grandchildren got a mention was for something like a birth or wedding. It irked me because the year QE went on and on about Will and Charles at COP, Eugenie had attended more and done more.
Including writing an op-ed. Could you imagine any of the so-called working royal coming up with something like this?
https://spearswms.com/wealth/princess-eugenie-sustainable-fishing-ascension/
The difference is all the Queen’s children were working. Harry is not but he is still the King’s son, one of his closest relations and no mention of him or his family at Christmas really shows him up. Bad father bad father… so bad monarch. Like charity, being a good person starts at home.
And Eugenie was Liz’s grandchild, the same as Will and deserved more recognition for doing things on her own without being paid by the public. But, if she stressed that the public would wonder why they are paying the rest.
I wonder what the ratings were for his Speech? With Betty the ratings were near rock bottom.
The Christmas Carol show ratings for Unable were less than last year, how long will ITV carry this show, that get less viewers than the news.
It came third in the ratings after a popular sitcom, and a Wallace and Gromit cartoon. It’s a tradition in some households but more and more people are choosing not to watch.
I’d far rather watch a Wallace & Gromit cartoon than listen to King Charles blather on.
Are the ratings in the UK any more trustworthy than all the surveys put out about royal popularity?
@somebody – Yes! KCIII’s speech only came in third because it was shown on all the main channels. If it had just been the ratings on the separate channels it would have been further down the list. In fact I read somewhere (apologies I can’t remember where) that his speech is ranking lower than those of QEII. As Julia said it is/was a tradition in a lot of households. Our Mum always wanted to watch the (REAL) Queen’s speech and even after Mum passed we watched QEII just “for Mum.” However, since QEII passed none of us bothered to find out what time the King’s speech is on to make sure we didn’t miss it!
“Analysing the King’s speech, Tessa told The Mirror: “Lest we are in any doubt, the clever film that accompanied this speech, underscored the importance of the King’s royal A-Team, on hand to deliver what Charles considers to be an alternative to global killing: a listening and understanding mission that leads to actions for the good of all.”
WOW. Wow wow wow. I can’t even process this statement. For all the slagging William and Kate get for their non-impactful activities, this insane statement about Charle’s address takes the cake on delusional. I really can’t believe anyone would in all seriousness suggest that KC’s address was so brilliant that it presented an alternative to “global killing”. What are these people on. That’s wild
Yes, I had to go back and contemplate that for a while – could she seriously be saying that hugging the rugby team is an alternative to global killing?
It seems to imply that that was the strategy of the previous monarch, ‘global killing’. Yikes! Throwing dear ol’ mum under the bus again, I see.
Also, ‘listening and understanding’–isn’t that the lazy duo’s approach? As in, listen but do nothing? Offer smiles and best wishes? Thoughts and prayers, y’all, thoughts and prayers.
Hopefully the year 2025 makes 2024 look like a party in comparison.. no one deserves it more than Chuck.
He might have also meant to include Princess Michael’s fall and two broken wrists. That plus Anne’s head injury, and two cancer patients, this has NOT been a great year for them.
And that’s not even touching their PR nonsense!
And Sarah’s breast cancer & skin cancer. That happened earlier in the year (likely she was treated before we were told, but I’m sure she has continuing checkups).
The UK rota are inserting false information about the speech pretending that Kate was specifically referenced. She was not. He said other family members dealing with illness, which applied as much to Anne and ofmichael as it does to Kate.
He has in the past specifically referenced William and Kate in speeches but that’s not what happened this year.
Did he mention his sister
Could even have been a sly way of mentioning family members that have had treatments that weren’t publicized.
Camilla had a lingering case of pneumonia, too.
When I logged on yesterday to the Daily Mail, they had an article that said Charles hadn’t mentioned M&H OR W&K. Now they’ve changed the narrative. Pathetic.
Ha. The selfless Drs he’s talking about are in the Private Hospital system and NOT the NHS. The top dollar they get paid is reflected in their ‘selfless’ service. Whereas in the NHS the staff are selfless because they want to be. Also funny how he didnt name Kate or anyone else. Made it ALL about himself as usual.
He’s an adulterer who is the head of the CoE. He married the whorse he cheated on his sons mother with. He has remained silent for eight years of racists abuse and threats against his son, DIL and biracial grandchildren. He went against their agreement and took away their security at a time where they were at their most vulnerable with a small child. He evicted them so that they cannot return safely to the UK where majority of the threats originate from. There isn’t anything he could say or should say about them in any speech because it would all be lies and hypocritical. He didn’t deserve them when they were in the UK and he doesn’t deserve to speak of them now that they are in the US.
Have Charles or Elizabeth ever before done a little vignette film of their activities over the year? It sounds awfully like the film version of H&M’s Christmas card.
And for me, at this point, it’s just a given that Charles is a cold-hearted SOB. At every critical moment of his life, he’s always chosen himself.
Didn’t mention the Sussexes? Okay.
That is not news. That is everyday shit.
I love the fact they think there were was a 1000 people in the crowd. The camera angles were moving around so much you could rapt actually see the crowd properly. Charles epitaph shit King, shit father, shit grandfather. He was always a selfish person , both him and Camilla only think about themselves . When history writes about Charles it will not be flattering. William doesn’t seem to any better being a shit brother. The country seem to be going along with bashing what used to be the most popular member of the sorry family. Harry is well shot of the lot of them
I don’t understand why the British press was expecting Harry and Meghan to be mentioned in Charles’s Christmas message. They’re not working royals and they have no relationship with him. If anything this piece shows how much the press want Harry and Meghan to return to the UK. They’re supposed to be irrelevant but the press keeps talking about them.
Charles is such a loser. And deep down, he must know it. He couldn’t compete against Diana. He can’t compete against his far superior youngest son and that son’s incredible wife. He’s only on top because of birth order, and is most comfortable with other losers such as his second wife.
He deserves the second-rate family he’s left with.
I love the fact they think there were was a 1000 people in the crowd. The camera angles were moving around so much you could rapt actually see the crowd properly. Charles epitaph shit King, shit father, shit grandfather. He was always a selfish person , both him and Camilla only think about themselves . When history writes about Charles it will not be flattering. William doesn’t seem to any better being a shit brother. The country seem to be going along with bashing what used to be the most popular member of the sorry family. Harry is well shot of the lot of them
P
I haven’t watched the speech but it sounds like none of the Royals were mentioned and the film was only about the a-list working Royals. So how is it an attack on the Sussexes and Andrew?
Lest we are in any doubt, the king has no clothes. It is clear who he has always been, and the sycophants who kiss the royal arse are proud and defensive because well, …where is there left to go for them? The era of their world influence, like America, has dimmed due to the once valiant island nation being in the news for things around the two stars, notably QE2 and Diana, especially the former. that were “less than complimentary. ” Sad and sadder. Still enjoy all things Princess Anne!
It’s obvious the Royals will still be stuck in this negative churn doom cycle for next year and won’t move on from briefing against the Sussexes with manufactured snubs and not doing anything positive or productive. Same playbook for the past 5 years. They are boring, uninspiring and stuck. It really has nothing to do with the Sussexes and the way they stick their names in every royal related story is ridiculous at this point . Leave the salt island dwellers behind in 2024. Relics.
LOL “snippets of Prince William”.
I didn’t expect Charles to reference the Sussexes at all. He haven’t mention them for years, why now? Last time, I recall, was a brief remark in his coronation speech, wherein he said something to the effect of; “H&M will continue doing their thing in California.”
In other words – I don’t need them here, in any royal role, or otherwise. Charles doesn’t care about the Sussex family. There is no love lost there. We may not like that, but that’s the harsh realty when it comes to that deadbeat, cruel man regarding his younger son and his American family.