Queen praises U.K. terrorism survivors in Christmas talk
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II marked her 60th anniversary as a self-described television host on Monday with an annual Christmas message that offered solace after Britain suffered five terrorist attacks in one year, reflected on the comforts of home and paid tribute to her husband after seven decades of marriage.
The queen said in her annual broadcast to Britain and the Commonwealth that she was thinking about London and Manchester, the two English cities attacked by terrorists this year, “whose powerful identities shone through over the past 12 months, in the face of appalling attacks.”
It had been a privilege, she said, to visit young survivors of the bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May that killed 22 people. She spoke, too, of the damage done by hurricanes in the Caribbean, and the “sheer awfulness” of the Grenfell Tower fire in London in June that killed 71.
The queen began by introducing an excerpt from her first televised Christmas message, from 1957. “The presenter has evolved somewhat,” she said afterward.
There was only the gentlest of references to perhaps the year’s most eagerly anticipated royal event, the engagement of her grandson Prince Harry to U.S. actress Meghan Markle.
Praising her husband of 70 years, Prince Philip, who said in May that he would be stepping back from most public engagements, the queen said: “I know his support and unique sense of humor will remain as strong as ever as we enjoy spending time this Christmas with our family, and look forward to welcoming new members into it next year.”
Christmas broadcasts are a British tradition dating from 1932, when King George V, the queen’s grandfather, delivered a three-minute Christmas Day message by radio.