The monarch is set
to deliver a particularly personal Christmas Day message this year, as the
monarch prepares to spend her first festive period since the death of her
husband.
A
photograph released by Buckingham Palace ahead of her televised address to the
nation shows the Queen sat behind a desk in the White Drawing Room at Windsor
Castle, accompanied by a single, framed picture of the Queen and her late
husband Prince Philip taken in 2007 at Broadlands country house, Hampshire, to
mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.
The
handout still shows the Queen wearing an embossed wool shift dress in Christmas
red, by British designer Angela Kelly, as well as a sapphire chrysanthemum
brooch which the then-Princess Elizabeth wore for a photo-call on her
honeymoon, also to Broadlands, in 1947, and for the couple’s Diamond Wedding
celebrations.
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| The monarch sat behind a photo of her and Prince Philip |
This
year’s message follows the death of her husband in April while coronavirus
restrictions at the time meant the Queen was memorably and poignantly forced to
sit alone in St George’s Chapel for his funeral service.
The
Queen will be joined at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day by the Prince of Wales
and the Duchess of Cornwall, having shelved her customary trip to Sandringham
as a “precautionary” measure amid rising coronavirus cases.
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| Prince Philip and the Queen at Broadlands in Hampshire |
Her
speech marks the end of a year peppered with both joy and immense sadness. The
Queen welcomed four new great-grandchildren to the family – August to Princess
Eugenie, Lucas to Zara Tindall, Lilibet to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and
Sienna to Princess Beatrice.
The
Queen used her 2020 Christmas broadcast to deliver a heartfelt message of hope
to the country, praising the “indomitable spirit” of those who had
risen “magnificently” to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
The
Queen’s address to the nation will be broadcast across multiple channels at 3pm
on Christmas Day.
