Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message: Light can triumph

“Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead – I am looking forward to a busy 2016, though I have been warned I may have “Happy Birthday” sung to me a few times or twice”.

A total of 130 people were killed in November 13 attacks in Paris, while this year has also seen a string of mass casualty attacks in countries including Nigeria, Syria and Iraq.

“But the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope often read at Christmas carol services: ‘The light shines in the darkness”.

Seated in front of a Christmas tree as she delivered the latest in a long line of seasonal royal messages that date back to George V in 1932, the queen, who turns 90 in April, reflected on her reign of over 63 years. “It’d be nice if we got a white Christmas because we haven’t had one in many years”. “But it’s also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for”.

And now, let’s revisit that adorable royal family Christmas card.

“It’s a very different experience at Christmas, having a family of your own”.

Queen Charlotte, the German-born wife of George III, is credited with introducing the Christmas tree to Britain.

A detailed history of royal Christmas speeches is available on the British Monarchy’s website.

The queen writes the brief speech Christmas herself, while she receives help from senior ministers on most other speeches.

She was shown at a desk adorned with three photographs, one of which shows her grandson Prince William, wife Kate and their two children, George and Charlotte, at the seven-month-old girl’s christening in July.

Along with her husband, Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge, 33, looked gorgeous and elegant as she strolled to the church, waving at fans.

“Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life, Christ’s unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence, but simply that we should love one another”, the Queen said, recounting the story of his family’s exile and persecution, perhaps a veiled reference to the refugee crisis facing the world.

In this Dec. 10, 2015 photo, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II sits at a desk in the 18th Century Room in Buckingham Palace in London, after recording her Christmas Day broadcast to the Commonwealth, to be broadcast Friday, Dec. 25, 2015.