Queen Elizabeth uses Christmas address to welcome Meghan Markle to the family
LONDON: For the past nine decades, the British monarch has broadcast a Royal Christmas Message, a fusty but revealing time capsule written in a clipped Royal Family haiku, the fewest possible lines of script about the state of the world — as seen through the eyes of the head of the House of Windsor.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas Broadcast on Monday continued in its earnest tradition, paying homage to the “extraordinary bravery and resilience” of the citizens of London and Manchester, who experienced “appalling attacks” with knives, vehicles and a bomb, by mostly homegrown Islamist terrorists.
The queen also notably said she looked forward to welcoming “new members” to the family in 2018, and though Elizabeth did not mention Prince Harry’s fiancee by name, the broadcast featured an engagement photograph of the American actress Meghan Markle, who is due to marry the ginger prince in May 2018.
A few hours before the Royal Message, the British media noted that Markle was allowed to break with tradition by attending Christmas Mass with the 91-year- old queen.
Markle was photographed walking arm-in-arm with Harry as they made their way from Sandringham House to the church in Norfolk.
This was big enough news to merit coverage on the BBC.
Millions in Britain and the 52 Commonwealth nations still watch and listen when the short, prerecorded message airs at 3pm. Greenwich time on the dot.
It is like an episode of the popular TV series ‘The Crown’ or a clip from the Oscar-winning film ‘The Queen’ with Helen Mirren, but real. — WP-Bloomberg