Queen Elizabeth praises husband’s humour in Christmas message

LONDON, (Reuters) - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will pay tribute to her husband Prince Philip in her Christmas message, and praise his “support and unique sense of humour”.

The 96-year-old prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, has been at the queen’s side throughout her 65 years on the throne, and has regularly grabbed the headlines with his off-colour comments.

He retired from regular royal duties over the summer, but has continued to make occasional appearances, most recently walking to the Christmas Eve church service on the royal family’s Sandringham estate.

The queen will also talk about the importance of home in her message, and the sense of community in London and Manchester after the capital’s devastating Grenfell Tower fire and the militant attacks in both cities.

“We think of our homes as place of warmth, familiarity and love ... there is a timeless simplicity to the pull of home,” she will say, according to excerpts from her speech released by Buckingham Palace.

“This Christmas, I think of London and Manchester, whose powerful identities shone through over the past 12 months in the face of appalling attacks,” she will add in the message which will be broadcast at 1500 GMT.

Elizabeth, the world’s longest reigning monarch, very rarely talks about her husband.

On their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, she said he did not take easily to compliments but had been her “strength and stay all these years”.