King Charles switched up tradition this Christmas and recorded his traditional holiday broadcast as sovereign from a former hospital chapel instead of a royal residence at the end of a difficult year in which he and Kate Middletonwere both diagnosed with cancer.
On Dec. 23, it emerged that the King, 76, filmed the address at Fitzrovia Chapel, the former chapel of Middlesex Hospital in London. We understands that the speech will reflect on national, international and personal challenges, and how they can be surmounted through mutual community support.
The Telegraph was first to report the news of the unique location, which marks a departure from past precedent in recent years. The upcoming broadcast will be the first time in 18 years that the monarch’s Christmas speech wasn’t recorded at a royal estate, and Fitzrovia Chapel was a poignant choice, constructed at the heart of the hospital as a place for patients and staff to seek peace. King Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, laid the foundation stone when the hospital was rebuilt in 1928, and though the medical hub shuttered in 2005, the chapel remains open to the public today as a place of meditation.
Fitzrovia Chapel in London.
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“It is also a non-denominational chapel, which of course, is a key focus,” a royal source told The Telegraph about the church. “Even though this is a Christmas address, His Majesty likes to reach out to those of all faiths and none.”
Interfaith relations are a key interest of the King, and The Telegraph said he hoped to modernize the Christmas broadcast, expressing a longtime desire to “reach out into communities rather than bringing them into him,” according to a royal source. The late Queen Elizabeth usually filmed her Christmas addresses at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace or Sandringham, where the royal family has celebrated Christmas for generations, and King Charles followed his mother’s lead by recording the broadcast at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2022 and at Buckingham Palace in 2023.
Fitzrovia Chapel is distinct for its Byzantine-inspired design and golden mosaic ceiling, and the King was “absolutely enchanted” by its scope, “astonishing beauty” and history, The Telegraph said. The outlet added that he had not been there before recording the address.
A photo from the broadcast, which was produced by Sky, showed the King smiling before a twinkling Christmas tree. It’s understood that the festive fir with sustainable decorations was later donated to Croydon BME Forum and Macmillan Cancer Support’s “Can You C Me?” project and will be placed in the Royal Trinity Hospice, Clapham. The hospice is the oldest in the U.K., and Queen Camilla has supported the care facility as patron since 2006. The King is also a longtime patron of Macmillan Cancer Support and visited the Macmillan Cancer Centre at the University College Hospital London for his first royal duty in April, following a brief break from forward outings after his diagnosis was announced.
King Charles leaves St Peter’s Church in London on Dec. 4, 2024.
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The Christmas broadcast is one of the British sovereign’s most famous holiday traditions, which King George V kicked off in 1932 and Queen Elizabeth televised for the first time in 1957. The broadcasts have been recorded in advance since 1960 and are shared as a way for the sovereign to reflect on current events, the meaning of Christmas and the landscape of the world’s stage.
The King’s upcoming speech will air on Christmas Day, on the heels of a year Prince William previously described as “brutal” as both his father the King and wife Princess Kate dealt with cancer diagnoses.
King Charles’ cancer treatment is thought to be ongoing and will continue into next year.
“His treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year,” palace sources said on Dec. 20.
Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales, 42, is gradually resuming some royal duties after sharing in March that she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment and updating in September that she completed chemo.
The Wales family at Together at Christmas on Dec. 6, 2024.
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In a remarkably personal comment behind the scenes at her Together at Christmas carol service on Dec. 6, Princess Kate said, “I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had,” seemingly referring to her health journey.
Though the Prince and Princess of Wales didn’t go to the King’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace last week, they’re expected to bring their children to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham with the King on Dec. 25, a much-loved royal Chritmas ritual. The family will hopefully make the traditional march to and from church at St. Mary Magdalene and later watch the King’s speech at 3 p.m. U.K. time after a festive feast.
