King Charles has recorded his annual Christmas message outside of a royal residence for the first time in almost two decades.
In a break from tradition, the 76-year-old monarch filmed his festive speech - which will broadcast to the nation on Christmas Day (25.12.24) earlier this month from Fitzrovia Chapel,which was previously part of the former Middlesex Hospital, in central London.
The move to the now-community venue is said to make the speech more personal and form a connection to health care amid the king's ongoing cancer treatment, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reports.
A source told the outlet the king personally made the decision to move the recording in order to give the annual broadcast a fresher, more modern feel, as part of his plan to “reach out into communities rather than bringing them into him”, a royal source said.
Charles' mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, previously broke with tradition in 2003 – the year the Iraq war started – when she went to Combermere Barracks, in Windsor, to deliver her speech. Three years later in 2006, she did it again where she recorded the speech in Southwark Cathedral.
The Christmas speech – a tradition started by King George V at Sandringham House, in Norfolk, in 1932 – gives the monarch the opportunity to personally reflect on the past year.
The year 2024 has been difficult for the royal family as both the King and Catherine, Princess of Wales underwent cancer treatment.
The Princess of Wales confirmed she had cancer after it was detected when she went for planned abdominal surgery, and after a course of chemotherapy, she was declared "cancer-free".
However, palace sources have said the treatment cycle will continue in the New Year for the king – who has regularly attended private appointments in London – and it is hoped he can return to a "full programme" of duties in 2025.
According to Sky News, a source said: "His treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year.
"The intention is for the monarch to return to a full programme of public duties next year."
Tom Parker Bowles, Queen Camilla's son, recently told People that it is a "very worrying" time for the monarch and the rest of the royal family, but he is "strong" and "doing what he can".
The writer added: "But my mother is strong as well. She supports him in every way. I think it's wonderful to have someone you love by your side.
"I'm incredibly proud of her. She's at an age when most people think of retiring, but she never complains; she just gets on with it."
