There’s an intriguing thing to look out for in the King Charles's Christmas speech this year.
The Royal Family are known for upholding traditions all year round and the festive season has several key ones that are incredibly well-known. These range from wrapping up in their best winter coats and walking to church on Christmas Day to opening presents on Christmas Eve instead. Another key tradition is something fans at home can look forward to as well, as King Charles has continued to pre-record a Christmas Day address that’s shown on the big day itself.
Whilst many people will be anticipating what his words of reflection on the past year could include in 2023, there’s an intriguing thing to look out for in King Charles’s Christmas speech. In the monarch’s Christmas speech there are often carefully selected photos on the desk.
Last year for His Majesty’s first Christmas speech as monarch he recorded it standing up with no desk in sight. However, in Queen Elizabeth’s final Christmas message she had one picture of her and Prince Philip on the desk and she also paid tribute to him in what was the first festive speech since his passing. In the past, Queen Elizabeth used to have a variety of photos next to her and it’s possible that this year King Charles could do the same.
Each photo is carefully selected and could often be said to speak volumes. In 2019, Queen Elizabeth had pictures of her father King George VI, Prince Philip, the now-King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Wales family on her desk. This choice was something that royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durant suggested in their biography Finding Freedom that Prince Harry and Meghan supposedly took note of.
As per The Mirror, the book alleged that the Sussexes reportedly felt the absence of a picture of them and their son Prince Archie was a “sign” they should “consider their own path”.
"Palace sources insisted that the photos were chosen to represent the direct line of succession, but for Harry and Meghan, it had been yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path,” they claimed.
It seems that the choice of pictures could be seen as very significant. Although King Charles didn’t sit for his Christmas message last year, he did for his first address as monarch when a photo of Queen Elizabeth was displayed beside him. With this in mind it’s at least possible King Charles might resume the tradition of delivering the monarch’s Christmas speech at a desk.
If so, many people might end up looking at the background of King Charles’ Christmas speech to see which royals could be featured in any photos next to or nearby him. Amid ongoing reports that King Charles is keen to “streamline” the monarchy’s working members, it’s possible he could opt for just pictures of him and Queen Camilla and the Wales family in 2023.
If he does include a picture of himself and Her Majesty, it’s perhaps likely it will be one from their coronation in May. This was one of the most momentous occasions from this entire year for the couple and King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Christmas card photo for 2023 was one of their official coronation portraits taken by Hugo Burnand at Buckingham Palace.
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