Dutiful Queen’s healing message of harmony

CHRISTMAS is meant to be a time of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always seem that way. However much we love our families, tensions inevitably surface. Grumbles about gifts (socks again!). Squabbles over what to watch on TV. Not to mention negotiating the minefield of who cooks dinner.

Despite sometimes appearing inescapably detached from real life, the Royals also endure familial turbulence – proving they too are as human as the rest of us.

the Queen frets about frail Prince Philip, who returned to Sandringham after four nights in hospital. the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, apparently uneasy in the public eye, spend Christmas thousands of miles away across the Atlantic.

And Prince Andrew, mired in scandal over his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is keeping a low profile.

But with customary devotion to duty, Her Majesty soldiers on. Her annual message spoke of renewal, praising new generations for their ‘sense of purpose’. Isn’t this feeling of new life bursting forth perfectly encapsulated by George and Charlotte stealing the show at the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas Day church service? Emphasising the importance of reconciling ‘past differences’, the woman who has weathered so many crises flawlessly captured the country’s mood.

Brexit has split the UK. We have endured a rancorous election. But those arguments – we hope – have finally been put to bed.

We are on the brink of an exciting new decade – the ‘Roaring twenties’. By putting debilitating clashes (both personal and national) behind us, we can surely face the future with unalloyed optimism.