ON SATURDAY 25 December 2021, Queen Elizabeth will deliver her 69th Christmas address to the nation as the British Monarch.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s royal address.
What time is The Queen’s Christmas Day speech?
The Queen’s speech for 2021 will be broadcast across multiple UK channels from 3pm on Saturday 25 December.
3pm has always been the traditionally scheduled time for the Queen’s royal message since it was first televised by the BBC in 1957.
On her first televised Christmas Day speech, the Queen said: “I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct.
“It is inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you.
“A successor to the Kings and Queens of history; someone whose face may be familiar in newspapers and films but who never really touches your personal lives.
“But now at least for a few minutes I welcome you to the peace of my own home.”
However, the 94-year-old’s speeches are no longer broadcast live and are instead pre-recorded in early December.
What will The Queen say?
This year’s royal address will no doubt be a more emotional one for Her Majesty, following the loss of her husband Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the continuing impact of coronavirus, with the Omicron variant sweeping across the nation.
In 2020, the Queen has used her Christmas Day message to reassure anyone struggling without friends and family this year that they “are not alone”.
She said what many people want “for Christmas is a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand” – but “even on the darkest nights there is hope in the new dawn”.
Her Majesty praised acts of kindness, saying the pandemic “brought us closer” despite causing hardship.
This year, the Queen will spend Christmas at Windsor Castle as she won’t travel to Sandringham as the decision is described “precautionary approach” due to rising Omicron cases in the UK.
This means that the monarch will have a more relaxed and low-key Christmas this year.
Experts claim there will be no games of charades and limited gift-giving.
Instead of the usual 30-person celebration the Queen is used to hosting for, this year she is expected to have no more than 15 family members.
How can I watch The Queen’s Christmas Day speech?
The Queen’s Christmas speech will be broadcast on BBC One, ITV, Sky One, Sky News and can be listened to on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at 3pm.
Those who decide to watch it on mobile devices or online can find the royal address on the Royal Family YouTube Channel and on their Facebook page.
