Queen Shares Pain Of Her Loss

Christmas day message will pay loving tribute to Prince Philip

- Richard Palmer

I a heartfelt Christmas Day message that will resonate with millions the Queen shares the pain of losing her beloved Prince Philip.

The poignancy of grief and remembrance in a year when many have lost loved ones to Covid will be reflected in Her Majesty's address to the nation.

The Queen's words are particularly personal”, say aides. Tomorrow's broadcast marks the 95-year-old monarch's first Christmas since her beloved husband of 73 years died, aged 99, in April.

A photo released by Buckingham Palace officials shows the Queen at a desk in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle next to a framed snap of the couple in 2007 at Broadlands, Hants where they had had their honeymoon.

She has already changed her plans for Christmas Day as the country fights the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. The Queen cancelled the traditional Royal Family festive gathering at Sandringham, opting to stay at Windsor with Charles and Camilla.

Princess Anne and her husband ViceAdmiral Tim Laurence had been expected to join in but they are isolating at their Gatcombe Park home in Gloucestershire after he tested positive for Covid. The two years of the pandemic have been some of the most difficult times of the Queen's reign, which enters its 70th year in a few days.