I'm constantly living in hope'

Christmas won't be quite the same this year without the Queen sharing her ups and downs with us common folk.

- PAUL LITTLE

We still have Mariah Carey to keep us going through the festive season, of course, but the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has put a bit of a dampener on that by refusing to crown her "the Queen of Christmas". In the wake of all this sadness, the Listener has turned to several local queens in their own right and asked them to rate their experience of 2022, talk about what Christmas means to them, and share their wishes for the year ahead. We hope it sets the tone for an "annus mirabilis" in 2023.

Jackie Clark

CHARITY QUEEN

A few things have been different this year. One has been working on video calls with [charity organisation] the Aunties. That saved us money and food, but, more importantly, we could talk about all the deep dark stuff that you can't talk about when you meet in a cafe.

With the cost of living skyrocketing, we're spending a lot more on food. Halfway through the year, I really noticed a crunch. A shopping list used to cost between $150 and $350 - for a really big one. And now they're regularly $300.

Donations have gone down, too. I reached the limit of what I could do raising money on Twitter and have reinstated our email newsletter. That is a more intimate way of communicating with our donors and others.

As for the Aunties' Christmas itself, it starts several weeks out when I begin assigning Christmas fairies to each of the women we help and their kids. We also give them an extra $500, and I love that they love it. I've outsourced Christmas, basically.

My own Christmas is at my brother and sister-in-law's place. It's very small now. Just nice food and good chats.

Looking ahead, one thing I want to happen next year is to set up a scholarship fund.