In her highly-anticipated Christmas message, Queen Elizabeth took the chance to honor her late husband, Prince Philip, while urging everyone around the globe to celebrate the Holidays with their loved ones despite the havoc that the ongoing pandemic has caused.
Sitting beside a framed photograph of her with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who she married on Nov. 20, 1947, The senior royal would also share her grief following his passing in April at age 99. They share four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
In her address that aired at 3 p.m., the monarch bared she understood the difficulty of spending the holiday season "with one familiar laugh missing." She was wearing the same sapphire chrysanthemum brooch on her right shoulder that she first used in public as a newlywed, the Daily Mail reported.
"Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many, Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones,’’ the Queen said in the prerecorded message broadcast. "This year, especially, I understand why.’’
It was the first festive season Queen Elizabeth had celebrated without her husband of 74 years. She bid her partner farewell earlier this year in a funeral service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, where coronavirus restrictions saw the queen sat alone far from the other members of the royal family.
Despite her loss, the queen said her family was a "source of great happiness," noting she had welcomed four great-grandchildren this year, including Princess Eugenie's first child, who was born in February, Mike and Zara Tindall's third child in March, and Princess Beatrice's daughter in September, Elle noted.
The Queen also made a rare comment about her great-granddaughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter to her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle. Lili was born in June 2021 in Montecito, California, and is yet to meet her grandmother.
However, royal fanatics were quick to notice that the British monarch made no mention of grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, who famously left their royal duties behind in 2020.
She also chose not to include the embattled Prince Andrew in her public greetings while he faces a civil lawsuit by Virginia Roberts Giuffre for allegedly sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old at Jeffrey Epstein's New York home, in London, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cambridge gifted British TV audiences with a piano performance of "For Those Who Can't Be Here" during a special Christmas service that aired on Christmas Eve.
She hosted the "Royal Carols: Together At Christmas" community event in Westminster Abbey earlier this month, according to CNN.
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