Queen welcomes Markle to family

BRITAIN: The Queen’s Christmas message this year notably said she looked forward to welcoming ‘‘new members’’ to the British royal family in 2018.

Though she did not mention Prince Harry’s fiancee Meghan Markle by name, the broadcast featured an engagement photograph of the American actress. The couple are due to marry in May 2018.

A few hours before the royal message, 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.

The Queen began her message with a bit of British self-depreciating humour, noting that 2017 marked an anniversary of sorts.

‘‘Sixty years ago today, a young woman spoke about the speed of technological change as she presented the first television broadcast of its kind,’’ she said. ‘‘She described the moment as a landmark.’’ The address then pivoted to a clip of a young Queen giving her first televised Christmas address in 1957.

‘‘Six decades on, the presenter has evolved somewhat, as has the technology she described,’’ the Queen said.

‘‘Back then, who could have imagined that people would one day be watching this on laptops and mobile phones, as some of you are today?’’

The Queen praised Britain’s ambulance and security forces, as she remarked not only on the 2017 terrorist attacks but a fire at the Grenfell public housing estate in London that left 71 people dead.

‘‘Reflecting on these events makes me grateful for the blessings of home and family and, in particular, for 70 years of marriage,’’ she said.

The Queen ended her message on a religious note. ‘‘We remember the birth of Jesus Christ, whose only sanctuary was a stable in Bethlehem. He knew rejection, hardship and persecution,’’ she said. ‘‘And, yet, it is Jesus Christ’s generous love and example which has inspired me through good times and bad.’’ – Washington Post