Category: Royal Family

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1987.

Sooner or later we all become aware of the passing of the years, but every now and then we get a sharp reminder that time is moving on rather quicker than we expected.

This happened to me last month when we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. I was very touched that so many of you were kind enough to send messages of good wishes.

There is no point in regretting the passage of time. Growing older is one of the facts of life, and it has its own compensations. Experience should help us to take a more balanced view of events and to be more understanding about the foibles of human nature.

Like everyone else, I learn about what is going on in the world from the media, but I am fortunate to have another source of information. Every day hundreds of letters come to my desk, and I make a point of reading as many of them as I possibly can.

The vast majority are a pleasure to read. There are also sad ones from people who want help, there are interesting ones from people who want to tell me what they think abut current issues, or who have suggestions to make about changing the way things are done. Others are full of frank advice for me and my family and some of them do not hesitate to be critical.

I value all these letters for keeping me in touch with your views and opinions, but there are a few letters which reflect the darker side of human nature.

It is only too easy for passionate loyalty to one’s own country, race or religion, or even to one’s favourite football club, to be corroded into intolerance, bigotry and ultimately into violence.

We have witnessed some frightening examples of this in recent years. All too often intolerance creates the resentment and anger which fill the headlines and divide communities and nations and even families.

From time to time we also see some inspiring examples of tolerance. Mr Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie lost her life in the horrifying explosion at Enniskillen on Remembrance Sunday, impressed the whole world by the depth of his forgiveness.

His strength, and that of his wife, and the courage of their daughter, came from their Christian conviction. All of us will echo their prayer that out of the personal tragedies of Enniskillen may come a reconciliation between the communities.

There are striking illustrations of the way in which the many different religions can come together in peaceful harmony. Each year I try to attend the Commonwealth Day inter-faith Observance at Westminster Abbey. At that service all are united in their willingness to pray for the common good.

This is a symbol of mutual tolerance and I find it most encouraging. Of course it is right that people should hold their beliefs and their faiths strongly and sincerely, but perhaps we should also have the humility to accept that, while we each have a right to our own convictions, others have a right to theirs too.

I am afraid that the Christmas message of goodwill has usually evaporated by the time Boxing Day is over. This year I hope we will continue to remember the many innocent victims of violence and intolerance and the suffering of their families. Christians are taught to love their neighbours, not just at Christmas, but all the year round.

I hope we will all help each other to have a happy Christmas and, when the New Year comes, resolve to work for tolerance and understanding between all people.

Happy Christmas to you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1988.

In the year just past, Prince Philip and I have joined in the celebration of some notable anniversaries. The events which they marked were hundreds of years apart, but each was important enough to get much attention in 1988.

The earliest event which we remembered was the encounter with the Spanish Armada in 1588. The 400th anniversary fell in the same year in which we were able to mark the happy relations between Britain and Spain which now exist, by our State Visit to Madrid.

Four hundred years after ‘the winds blew’ and the Spanish ships were scattered, the events were remembered, without animosity, in both countries.

These prints from the Royal Library at Windsor illustrate the battles and some of the great fleet which gathered. This year, the present King of Spain showed me the rooms in the Escorial, where his predecessor, Philip the Second, planned the campaign. Had the fortunes of war gone against us, how very differently events in Britain and Europe would have unfolded.

Earlier in the year, we marked another event of the first importance in our history – the 300th anniversary of what is popularly known as the Glorious Revolution.

The invitation to King William and Queen Mary to accept the thrones of England and Scotland finally laid to rest the ‘enterprise of England’ which Philip of Spain set in hand.

It thus gave the particular direction to our history which was to lead to the development of parliamentary democracy and the tradition of political and religious toleration which Britain enjoys today.

It was a great pleasure for us to celebrate that event in the company of the Crown Prince of the Netherlands. Together we visited Torbay – which was where King William landed in 1688.

It was shrouded with fog when we were there, but we did manage to see through the mist some of the hundreds of British and Dutch yachts that had assembled there.

Three hundred years may seem a long time ago, but there are still some objects here in Buckingham Palace which bring to life William and Mary as people – and one which I particularly treasure is this little patch box that belonged to The Queen and which caries her monogram entwined with William’s on the lid.

The 1988 anniversary season opened in Australia – with a grand party on Australia Day to mark the country’s 200th birthday. It was a party which went on for most of the year, but Prince Philip and I joined in the festivities in April and May.

Like so many visitors in Bicentennial year, we brought home some souvenirs of our visit. In our case it was some delightful early prints of Sydney, which served to remind us of the extraordinary developments which have taken place in Australia in the short space of two hundred years.

Contrast this scene of Sydney Harbour with the pictures we all saw of the crowded waters around the Opera House and the famous bridge in January this year.

Centenaries may seem rather arbitrary occasions, but they nonetheless prompt us to look back into the past. When we do so, we can draw hope from seeing how ancient enmities have vanished; and how new nations have grown and established themselves in vigour and wisdom.

Equally, they make us reflect on injustices and tragedies and inspire us to do our best to learn from these as well.

To do that, we surely should draw inspiration from one other anniversary – the one we celebrate every year at this time, the birth of Christ.

There are many grand and splendid pictures in the Royal Collection that illustrate this event, but one which gives me particular pleasure is this precious, almost jewel-like book.

It is a ‘Book of Hours’, full of prayers and devotional readings. It’s in Latin, but it contains the most exquisite illuminations and it is these that speak to us most movingly.

The anonymous person who drew the pictures nearly five hundred years ago has included all the familiar elements of the Christmas story which we hear with such pleasure every year.

Here are the angels, bringing the glad tidings to the shepherds, who listen attentively. Down here, where baby Jesus lies in the stall, you can see Mary and Joseph, watching over him, quite unmoved, it seems, by the man playing the bagpipes overhead.

The star over the stable has lit the way for all of us ever since, and there should be no one who feels shut out from that welcoming and guiding light. The legends of Christmas about the ox and the ass suggest that even the animals are not outside that loving care.

Recently, many of you will have set up and decorated a Christmas tree in your homes. Often these are put by a window and the bright and shining tree is there for every passer-by to see and share. I like to think that if someone who feels lonely and unloved should see such a tree, that person might feel: ‘It was meant for me’.

May the Christmas story encourage you, for it is a message of hope every year, not for a few, but for all.

So in sending you my Christmas greeting, I pray that God may bless you – every one.

As you probably all know, my Christmas Broadcast has to be recorded well before Christmas Day so that it can be made available to radio and television stations throughout the Commonwealth.

Since I made that recording this year, we have all been shocked and distressed by a series of major disasters: here in Britain, the worst air crash in our history at Lockerbie and a serious train accident at Clapham; and in Armenia, a terrible earthquake.

All three came with great suddenness and destroyed the lives of many people who were looking forward to celebrating Christmas with their families and friends. So there are many homes today where the joy of Christmas has been darkened by a cloud of sadness and grief.

Our hearts and prayers go out to those who have been injured or bereaved, and it is my hope that the eternal message of Christmas will bring some comfort in the hour of sadness.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1989.

I usually make my Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth from Windsor or Buckingham Palace.

This year I thought I would use the presence of two thousand children at this occasion organised by Save the Children Fund in the Albert Hall, here in the heart of London, to send this special message to the children of the Commonwealth.

Those of you present are the immediate audience for my broadcast, but I am also speaking by radio and television to people throughout the world.

All parents would like their children to grow up in peace and tranquillity, but for most of this century the people of this world have had to live through bewildering changes and upheavals. Some of the changes have been for the better, but others might even threaten the world we live in.

There are some children who are much less fortunate than others, for they come from countries where nature makes life very hard, with floods and droughts and other disasters destroying crops, making it very difficult to find enough for everyone to eat. Quite a lot of you have written to me during the last year or so, saying how worried you are about the future of our planet.

Many of you will have heard of the greenhouse effect, and perhaps you’ve heard too about even more urgent problems caused by the pollution of our rivers and seas and the cutting down of the great forests. These problems don’t affect just the countries where they are happening and they make neighbourly co-operation throughout the world a pressing necessity.

With all your lives before you, I am sure that you take an optimistic view of the future. But it is already too late to prevent all forms of damage to the natural world. Some species of wild plants and animals are, sadly, bound to become extinct. But the great thing to remember is that it is not too late to reduce the damage if we change attitudes and behaviour.

You’ve all seen pictures of the earth taken from space. Unlike all the other planets in the solar system, earth shimmers green and blue in the sunlight and looks a very pleasant place to live.

These pictures should remind us that the future of all life on earth depends on how we behave towards one another, and how we treat the plants and the animals that share our world with us.

Men and women have shown themselves to be very clever at inventing things, right back to the time when they found out how much easier it was to move things about on wheels, up to the present time when rockets and computers make it possible for people to travel away from our world into the mystery of space.

But these technical skills are not enough by themselves. They can only come to the rescue of the planet if we also learn to live by the golden rule which Jesus Christ taught us – “love thy neighbour as thyself”.

Many of you will have heard the story of the Good Samaritan, and of how Christ answered the question (from a clever lawyer who was trying to catch him out) “who is my neighbour?”.

Jesus told of the traveller who was mugged and left injured on the roadside where several important people saw him, and passed by without stopping to help.

His neighbour was the man who did stop, cared for him, and made sure he was being well looked after before he resumed his own journey.

It’s not very difficult to apply that story to our own times and to work out that our neighbours are those of our friends, or complete strangers, who need a helping hand. Do you think they might also be some of the living species threatened by spoiled rivers, or some of the children in places like Ethiopia and Sudan who don’t have enough to eat?

The exciting news of the last few months has been the way in which people in both East and West Europe have begun to think about the future in a less unfriendly way – more as neighbours.

It’s still hard for us to be sure what is going to happen as a result of these great events, but it would be splendid to think that in the last years of the twentieth century Christ’s message about loving our neighbours as ourselves might at last be heeded.

If it is, they’ll be good years for you to grow up in. If we can reduce selfishness and jealousy, dishonesty and injustice, the nineties can become a time of peace and tranquillity for children and grown-ups, and a time for working together for the benefit of our planet as a whole.

You children have something to give us which is priceless. You can still look at the world with a sense of wonder and remind us grown-ups that life is wonderful and precious. Often a child’s helplessness and vulnerability bring out the best in us.

Part of that ‘best in us’ could be a particular tenderness towards this earth which we share as human beings, all of us, and, together, as the nations of the world, will leave to our children and our children’s children. We must be kind to it for their sake.

In the hope that we will be kind and loving to one another, not just on Christmas Day, but throughout the year, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas. God bless you.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1992.

This year, I am speaking to you not from Buckingham Palace, but from Sandringham, where my family gathers every year for Christmas.

My great-grandfather, King Edward VII, made Sandringham his country home in 1862, and it was from this house that my grandfather, King George V, and my father, used to speak over the radio – originally to the Empire and then to the Commonwealth – on Christmas Day all those years ago.

It was from here that I made my first Christmas Broadcast forty years ago, and this year I am very glad to be able to speak to you again from this family home.

I first came here for Christmas as a grandchild. Nowadays, my grandchildren come here for the same family festival. To me, this continuity is a great source of comfort in a world of change, tension and violence.

The peace and tranquillity of the Norfolk countryside make me realise how fortunate we are, and all the more conscious of the trials and sorrows that so many people are suffering both in this country and around the world. My heart goes out to those whose lives have been blighted by war, terrorism, famine, natural disaster or economic hardship.

Like many other families, we have lived through some difficult days this year. The prayers, understanding and sympathy given to us by so many of you, in good times and bad, have lent us great support and encouragement. It has touched me deeply that much of this has come from those of you who have troubles of your own.

As some of you may have heard me observe, it has, indeed, been a sombre year. But Christmas is surely the right moment to try to put it behind us and to find a moment to pray for those, wherever they are, who are doing their best in all sorts of ways to make things better in 1993.

I am thinking especially of the Servicemen and women, and the aid workers with them, trying to keep the peace in countries riven by strife, and to bring food to the weak and innocent victims. They do not have an easy task and they need all the moral and practical support that we can give them.

Curiously enough, it was a sad event which did as much as anything in 1992 to help me put my own worries into perspective. Just before he died, Leonard Cheshire came to see us with his fellow members of the Order of Merit.

By then, he was suffering from a long drawn-out and terminal illness. He bore this with all the fortitude and cheerfulness to be expected of a holder of the Victoria Cross. However, what struck me more forcibly than his physical courage was the fact that he made no reference to his own illness, but only to his hopes and plans to make life better for others.

He embodied the message in those well-known lines: “Kindness in another’s trouble, courage in one’s own”.

One of his Cheshire Homes for people with disabilities is not far from this house. I have visited others all over the Commonwealth and I have seen at first hand the remarkable results of his, and his wife’s, determination to put Christ’s teaching to practical effect.

Perhaps this shining example of what a human being can achieve in a lifetime of dedication can inspire in the rest of us a belief in our own capacity to help others.

Such talents and indomitable spirit are not given to all of us. But if we can sometimes lift our eyes from our own problems, and focus on those of others, it will be at least a step in the right direction, and Christmas is a good time to take it. I hope that his example will continue to inspire us all in the years ahead.

1993 will certainly bring new challenges, but let us resolve to meet it with fresh hope in our hearts. There is no magic formula that will transform sorrow into happiness, intolerance into compassion or war into peace, but inspiration can change human behaviour.

Those, like Leonard Cheshire, who devote their lives to others, have that inspiration and they know, and we know, where to look for help in finding it. That help can be readily given if we only have the faith to ask.

I and my family, as we approach a new year, will draw strength from this faith in our commitment to your service in the coming years.

I pray that each and every one of you has a happy Christmas and that we can all try to bring that happiness to others. God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1993.

I am speaking to you from the Library at Sandringham.

Four generations of my family have enjoyed the quiet and solitude of this library. It is still a haven of peace even if my grandchildren do their best over Christmas to make it rather more lively!

Most of the books on the shelves date from my great-grandfather’s time, and their titles reflect the life and events of those days.

Books are one of the ways in which each generation can communicate its history, values and culture to the next. There are books here about statesmen, explorers, warriors and saints; there are many about war, especially the First World War which ended seventy-five years ago.

Families and loved ones of those who fought in it knew little of the horrors of the trenches, other than from artists’ drawings or photographs – often published days or weeks after the event. Nowadays stories and pictures from all over the world can be gathered up and appear in print within hours.

We have indeed become a global village. It is no longer possible to plead ignorance about what is going on in far-off parts of the world. Switch on the television or radio, and the graphic details of distant events are instantly available to us.

Not all the pictures bring gloomy news. This year has seen significant progress made towards solving some of the world’s most difficult problems – the Middle East, for instance, the democratic future of South Africa and, most recently, Northern Ireland.

All too often, though, we find ourselves watching or listening to the sort of news which, as a daily diet, can be almost overwhelming. It makes us yearn for some good news.

If we can look on the bright side, so much the better, but that does not mean we should shield ourselves from the truth, even if it is unwelcome. I believe that we should be aware of events which, in the old days, might have passed us by. But that means facing up to the question of what we can do to use that awareness for the greater good.

The simple answer is, of course, all too little. But there is another answer. It is that the more we know, the more we feel responsible, and the more we want to help.

Those involved in international charity work confirm that modern communications have helped to bring them public support and made them more effective. People are not shunning the added responsibility, but shouldering it.

All of us owe a debt to those volunteers who are out there in the front line, putting our donations to use by looking after the wounded, the hungry and the oppressed. Much of their work never reaches the headlines or television screens, but their example should inspire us all the same.

We cannot all follow them the whole way, but we can do something to help within our own community – particularly at Christmas, when those without work, or the company of family or friends, feel especially left out.

I am always moved by those words in St. John’s Gospel which we hear on Christmas Day – “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not”.

We have only to listen to the news to know the truth of that. But the Gospel goes on – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God”.

For all the inhumanity around us, let us be grateful for those who have received him and who go about quietly doing their work and His will without thought of reward or recognition.

They know that there is an eternal truth of much greater significance than our own triumphs and tragedies, and it is embodied by the Child in the Manger. That is their message of hope.

We can all try to reflect that message of hope in our own lives, in our actions and in our prayers. If we do, the reflection may light the way for others and help them to read the message too. We live in the global village, but villages are made up of families.

We, the peoples of the fifty nations of the Commonwealth – more than a quarter of the world’s population – have, as members of one of the largest families, a great responsibility. By working together, we can help the rest of the world become a more humane and happier place.

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas. I pray, with you, for a happy and peaceful New Year.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1994.

I shall never forget the events in Normandy last June, when the representatives of the wartime allies commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the D-Day landings.

We who were there, and millions of others through television and radio, paid fitting tribute to the courage of those who took part in that epic campaign.

As Prince Philip and I stood watching the British veterans march past on the beach at Arromanches, my own memories of 1944 were stirred – of how it was to wait anxiously for news of friends and relations engaged in that massive and hazardous operation; of the subsequent ebb and flow of the battles in France and then in Germany itself; and of the gradual realisation that the war really was at least coming to an end.

Since those D-Day commemorations, Prince Philip and I have been to Russia. While we were in St. Petersburg, we had the opportunity to honour the millions of patriotic Russians who died fighting the common enemy.

To see British and Russian veterans standing together, in memory of the sacrifices of their comrades-in-arms, was a moving experience.

I never thought it would be possible in my lifetime to join with the Patriarch of Moscow and his congregation in a service in that wonderful cathedral in the heart of the Moscow Kremlin.

This Christmas, as we pray for peace at home and abroad – not least in Russia itself – we can also give thanks that such cathedrals and churches will be full and that the great bells, which greeted us, will be ringing out to celebrate our Saviour’s birth.

We are frequently reminded, of course, that violence and hatred are still all too much in evidence. We can take some comfort, however, from the fact that more people throughout the world, year by year, have real hope of their children growing up in peace and free from fear.

Last Christmas we were witnessing the signs of a new dawn after the long bitterness, and this year these signs have become steadily stronger. If that new dawn is to be a real and not a false one, courage, patience and faith will be sorely needed – those same qualities which kept the flame of hope alive in the war-torn countries of Europe and the Far East in the dark days of the last war.

Christ taught us to love our enemies and to do good to them that hate us. It is a hard lesson to learn, but this year we have seen shining examples of that generosity of spirit which alone can banish division and prejudice.

In Northern Ireland, peace is gradually taking root; a fully democratic South Africa has been welcomed back into the Commonwealth; and, in the Middle East, long-standing enmities are healing.

What is it that makes people turn from violence, and try to bring peace to their community? Most of all, I believe, it is their determination to bring reality to their hopes of a better world for their children.

The sight of the happy faces of children and young people in Russia, in South Africa, where so much has changed with such extraordinary speed in the last year, and in Northern Ireland, where there is real hope of a permanent end to the bitterness of recent years, should be enough to convince even the most hard-hearted that peace is worth striving for.

Next year, we shall commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The celebrations will no doubt be spectacular, and I hope we all enjoy them. But we can also, each in our own way, ensure that they leave a lasting mark in history.

If we resolve to be considerate and to help our neighbours; to make friends with people of different races and religions; and, as our Lord said, to look to our own faults before we criticise others, we will be keeping faith with those who landed in Normandy and fought so doggedly for their belief in freedom, peace and human decency.

The poet Siegfried Sassoon, amidst all the horrors of war, still found himself able to write these words:-

“Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted
And beauty came like the setting sun.”

If he could see the beauty from the trenches of Flanders surely we can look for it in our own lives, this Christmas and in the coming year.

Happy Christmas and God bless you.

 

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1995.

During a year of wartime commemorations which has seen Commonwealth countries honouring their past, it has sometimes been tempting to let nostalgia lend a rosy glow to memories of war, and to forget the benefits of the relatively peaceful years bought for us by the heroism and sacrifice to which we have been paying tribute.

Those who suffered the horrors of warfare, in whatever guise, will not have been prey to this temptation. For them, war was not a “Boys’ Own” tale of comradeship and good cheer, but one of hard slog, danger, suffering and exhaustion.

Those songs we sang during the VE Day commemorations did much to brighten the days of war, and they certainly cheered us last May. But, as any veteran will tell you, there was a lot more to the war years than dreaming of the White Cliffs of Dover.

In talking to the veterans, I was forcibly reminded of the detachment with which those personally unaffected by violence can view its effect on others.

This seems particularly true of Northern Ireland, where the present peace of a year and more has been welcomed by all right-thinking people here and abroad. Now, however, the ‘process’ is at something of a crossroads as we speculate about what happens next.

But it seems to me that much of the expert analysis of the manoeuvring and negotiating is somewhat detached from the reality as seen by those whom I meet who live and work in Northern Ireland.

They, who for 25 years have lived their lives in the dark and relentless shadow of the gun and the bomb, do not seem to have as much time for past history and prejudice as do those who commentate and pronounce on the situation, often from afar.

For those who have seen family, friends and neighbours die by violence, the bomb and the gun are the weapons of hatred which have blighted their lives for at least a quarter of a century: surely, they say, now is the time to lay them down: surely there can be discussion of a peaceful and prosperous future conducted without the threat of a return to the old evil ways.

I echo those sentiments today. I pray that those who can exercise that threat, whoever and wherever they may be, will be persuaded that the old way was the wrong way, and that to revert to it is unthinkable.

We heard much, in May and August this year, of how the future of the free world was saved by the ordinary men and women who did their bit for the victory of 1945.

It is the ordinary men and women who, so often, have done more than anyone else to bring peace to troubled lands. It is they who suffer most, and it is up to others to see that their courage and common sense are rewarded. It should not be too much to ask.

During my visit to South Africa last March, I was able to see, in a township, how the energy and inspiration of one person could benefit thousands of others. And that one person would lay no claim to be anything other than ordinary – whatever you or I might think of her!

I have of course used the Christmas story before in this context. But I cannot think of any Christmas of my reign when the message of the angels has been more apt.

Think, for instance, of all the children round the world suffering from the effects of war and the unscrupulous use of power. Some of them are growing up in countries of the Commonwealth, an organisation which is proud of its devotion to the principle of good government.

Those children will, however, be less impressed by communiqués and good intentions than by seeing democratically elected governments governing with justice and with honour.

“Blessed be the peacemakers,” Christ said, “for they shall be called the children of God.” It is especially to those of you, often peacemakers without knowing it, who are fearful of a troubled and uncertain future, that I bid a Happy Christmas.

It is your good sense and good will which have achieved so much. It must not and will not go to waste. May there be still happier Christmases to come, for you and your children. You deserve the best of them.

Happy Christmas and God bless you all.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1996.

To look back is not necessarily to be nostalgic. When I come to Sandringham each year, I like to reflect on what Christmas must have been like when King Eward VII, my great-grandfather, and Queen Alexandra first came here as young parents.

I remember my own childhood Christmases here, with my father and mother, and a great family gathering, and now I delight in seeing my children and grandchildren enjoying the same traditions.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the founder of the Christian faith, an event which took place almost 2000 years ago; every year, at this time, we are asked to look back at that extraordinary story and remind ourselves of the message which inspired Christ’s followers then, and which is just as relevant today.

At Christmas I enjoy looking back on some of the events of the year. Many have their roots in history but still have a real point for us today. I recall, especially, a dazzling spring day in Norwich when I attended the Maundy Service, the Cathedral providing a spectacular setting.

The lovely service is always a reminder of Christ’s words to his disciples: “Love one another; as I have loved you”. It sounds so simple yet it proves so hard to obey.

In June came the Trooping the Colour, a vivid reminder of this country’s proud military tradition, and of the discipline and dedication which our servicemen and women show in their taxing tasks of peace-keeping in many distant parts of the world.

Then, in October, I opened Parliament. This is not just a State occasion, but also a symbol of the process of parliamentary democracy which we enjoy here in Britain, and in so many countries of the Commonwealth. It is a process which seeks to express the ideal of the equality of all citizens under the law.

So, the past, with its traditions, has its lessons for us in 1996. And this year, in our travels, Prince Philip and I have also been looking to the future. I and all my family have always felt that one of our most important duties is to express, in our visits overseas, the goodwill of our country towards friends abroad, near and far.

So, last spring, we visited Poland and the Czech Republic, where we saw the development of democracy and prosperity in countries which only recently were communist-governed. And everywhere we received the best of welcomes. In the autumn we went to Thailand, where we renewed old friendships and witnessed the blending of tradition with a dynamic commercial spirit.

There was also a happy visit to this country by the President of France. And I shall never forget the State Visit of President Mandela. The most gracious of men has shown us all how to accept the facts of the past without bitterness, how to see new opportunities as more important than old disputes and how to look forward with courage and optimism.

His example is a continuing inspiration to the whole Commonwealth and to all those everywhere who work for peace and reconciliation.

This, I know, has been a difficult year for many families. Discord, sickness, bereavement, even tragedy have touched all too many lives. We recall, with sadness and bewilderment, the horror of Dunblane and Port Arthur. We watch anxiously as violence threatens again to disrupt the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.

In difficult times, it is tempting for all of us, especially those who suffer, to look back and say “if only”. But to look back in that way is to look down a blind alley. Better to look forward and say “if only”.

If only we can live up to the example of the child who was born at Christmas with a love that came to embrace the whole world. If only we can let him recapture for us that time when we faced the future with childhood’s unbounded faith.

Armed with that faith, the New Year, with all its challenges and chances, should hold no terrors for us, and we should be able to embark upon it undaunted.

My family joins me in wishing each one of you a very Happy Christmas.

The Christmas Broadcast made by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 25 December 1997.

At the Christian heart of this United Kingdom stands Westminster Abbey, and it was right that it provided the setting for two events this year – one of them almost unbearably sad, and one, for Prince Philip and me, tremendously happy.

Joy and sadness are part of all our lives. Indeed, the poet William Blake tells us that:

“Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.”

This interweaving of joy and woe has been very much brought home to me and my family during the last months. We all felt the shock and sorrow of Diana’s death.

Thousands upon thousands of you expressed your grief most poignantly in the wonderful flowers and messages left in tribute to her. That was a great comfort to all those close to her, while people all around the world joined us here in Britain for that service in Westminster Abbey.

But Prince Philip and I also knew the joy of our Golden Wedding. We were glad to be able to share this joy at Buckingham Palace with many other couples, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.

Then, on our own anniversary day, came a very different service at Westminster Abbey, this time the “silken twine”, a service of thanksgiving for our 50 happy years together. After that service we had a chance to meet and chat to so many different people.

I will never forget that day, nor a day five years ago when Windsor Castle suffered a terrible fire. More than a hundred rooms were badly damaged. But out of the disaster came opportunities for all sorts of people to display their range of skills, their love of history, and their faith in the future.

Last month the restoration of the Castle was completed and it is shortly to be open again for all to see. It is a mixture of the original with later additions and alterations – and, the result, a vigorous blend of the old and the new.

And so it has been in the Commonwealth. Prince Philip and I were touched by the way the Canadian people welcomed us again to Canada. We were delighted to be invited to Pakistan and India on the 50th anniversary of their Independence, and to celebrate their achievements since 1947.

The Prince of Wales represented Britain when the people of Hong Kong marked their return to China – in spectacular fashion. Many of you might have felt a twinge of sadness as we in Britain bade them farewell, but we should be proud of the success of our partnership in Hong Kong and in how peacefully the old Empire has been laid to rest.

Out of the old Empire sprang the Commonwealth family of nations that we know today, and that, too, has grown and changed over the years.

In October, 51 representatives of Commonwealth governments met in Edinburgh, very much in the spirit of a family gathering. We all enjoy meeting old friends and making new ones, but there was also important business to be done. The world saw that the Commonwealth can make a major contribution to international relations and prosperity.

The meeting also showed that unity and diversity can go hand in hand. Recent developments at home, which have allowed Scotland and Wales greater say in the way they are governed, should be seen in that light and as proof that the kingdom can still enjoy all the benefits of remaining united.

Being united – that is, feeling a unity of purpose – is the glue that bonds together the members of a family, a country, a Commonwealth. Without it, the parts are only fragments of a whole; with it, we can be much more than the sum of those fragments.

For most of us this is a happy family day. But I am well aware that there are many of you who are alone, bereaved, or suffering. My heart goes out to you, and I pray that we, the more fortunate ones, can unite to lend a helping hand whenever it is needed, and not ‘pass by on the other side’.

St Paul spoke of the first Christmas as the kindness of God dawning upon the world. The world needs that kindness now more than ever – the kindness and consideration for others that disarms malice and allows us to get on with one another with respect and affection.

Christmas reassures us that God is with us today. But, as I have discovered afresh for myself this year, he is always present in the kindness shown by our neighbours and the love of our friends and family.

God bless you all and Happy Christmas.