LONDON — King Charles III used his annual Christmas message Wednesday to hail the selflessness of those that have cared for him and the Princess of Wales this yr, after each had been recognized with most cancers.
The 76-year-old monarch mentioned he and his household are “continually” impressed by those that dedicate their lives to serving to others.
“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,” he mentioned in a prerecorded speech.
The printed got here a number of hours after the monarch waved to a big crowd who historically collect to see the royal household attend Christmas Day companies at a church on Sandringham, the property on the windswept North Beach that has served as a household retreat for generations.
The king walked with Queen Camilla as his eldest son, Prince William, Kate and their three kids adopted. The king’s daughter-in-law, who has slowly returned to public duties after finishing chemotherapy, hugged a most cancers affected person after the service.
Two of Charles’ siblings, Anne, the Princess Royal, and Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, had been additionally within the procession.
Andrew, as soon as second in line to the British throne, has change into a relentless supply of tabloid fodder due to his cash woes and hyperlinks to questionable characters, together with the late American financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Even after stepping again from public duties, Andrew has continued to seem at household occasions and his absence from Sandringham suggests an extra retreat from the general public eye. The king has been below stress to distance Andrew from the royal household to keep away from additional embarrassment to the monarchy.
Whereas Andrew mentioned he by no means mentioned something delicate with the suspected Chinese language spy and had ceased contact with the person as quickly as considerations had been raised, the scandal raises additional questions on his judgment and distracts from the work of the royal household, mentioned Ed Owens, creator of “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?’’
“The reason why this is a problem for the king is simply that the king is trying to rebrand the monarchy at the moment, centering its focus around him, but also around William, Catherine, what they are trying to do,” Owens mentioned.
“It’s been a very difficult year for the monarchy, not least because of the two cancer diagnoses. And all the positive headlines that the king has been trying to generate of late, unfortunately, are overshadowed by the behavior, the reckless behavior, of his younger brother, who once again finds himself in the headlines.”
The king’s Christmas speech is the third since he ascended the throne after Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, however the first since he was recognized with an undisclosed type of most cancers in February.
The monarch’s vacation message is watched by hundreds of thousands of individuals within the U.Ok. and throughout the Commonwealth, with many households timing Christmas lunch round it.