King Charles and the royal family, minus Andrew, gather for Christmas as king

King Charles III and members of the royal family (minus his disgraced brother, the former Prince Andrew) gathered for Christmas at the king’s private estate in Sandringham, where they traditionally spend the holidays. In the king’s annual Christmas speech, broadcast across Britain and the Commonwealth, he stressed the importance of both unity and diversity.

In the morning, Charles and Queen Camilla, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, their children and family, walked to services at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, about 100 miles north of London.

Members of the royal family also stopped to greet people outside.

Andrew was not present at the Christmas gathering, BBC News reported, following the scandal over their links to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He didn’t attend last year any. In October, it was stripped of his remaining titles and honours, including that of prince, and is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Later that day, millions of people in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth, an association of 56 nations with historic ties to Britain, watched the king’s annual Christmas Day address.

“Meeting people of different faiths, I find it enormously encouraging to hear how much we have in common, a shared longing for peace and a deep respect for all life,” Charles said in his speech, which was recorded earlier this month at Westminster Abbey.

Amid “division both at home and abroad,” he said, there are “values ​​we must never lose sight of.”

“With the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that good triumphs over evil.”

Westminster Abbey, in the heart of London, is where monarchs have been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066, and has also been the scene of numerous royal weddings.

The speech was accompanied by a video of members of the royal family, which included scenes from the king’s ceremony. historic trip to the vaticanwhere he prayed with Pope Leo XIV in an effort to forge closer relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church.

The speech is one of the rare occasions when Charles, 77, can express his own views and does not seek guidance from the government. The comments often have a strong religious framework, reflect current issues, and are sometimes based on the monarch’s personal experiences.

The king’s speech was followed by a performance by a Ukrainian choir and the Chorus of the Royal Opera House in London, in a sign of support for Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion.

This was Charles’s fourth Christmas speech since ascending to the throne after his mother, Queen Elizabeth IIdied in September 2022.

The speech comes just two weeks after Charles made a deeply personal television appearance in which he said “good news” from his doctors meant he could reduce your cancer treatment in the new year.

He the king was diagnosed with an as yet undisclosed form of cancer in early 2024. Buckingham Palace says his treatment is now moving into a “precautionary phase” and his condition will be monitored to ensure his continued recovery.

During last year’s Christmas speech, Charles honored care workers across the country and gave a special thanks to the doctors and nurses who supported him after his cancer diagnosis.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, also underwent treatment for cancer last year. She said in January that she was in remission after passing through some “hard times” during your recovery. Kate, as she is often called, has not shared details about what type of cancer it was.

She and her husband, Prince William, heir to the thronethey have three children: Prince George of Wales, 12 years old, Princess Charlotte of Wales, 10 years old, and Prince Louis of Wales, 7 years old.