The Queen’s annual Christmas speech will go ahead as normal this year and will air at 3pm on Christmas Day. But instead of releasing details of the message, Buckingham Palace will keep the contents of her Christmas message a secret. A royal expert has weighed in on what he thinks the monarch will discuss in the speech, and has suggested Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will not feature.
Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk he doesn’t think the Queen will mention the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in her Christmas speech.
He said: “I wouldn’t have thought so because the Sandringham agreement is being reassessed by the end of next March.
“Everybody knows what happened, it is something that she made clear she wished it would have been otherwise.
“There is no doubt at all that she was sorry they stepped down as senior working royals and equally we wish them well.
“That remains the position but I don’t expect that it will be referred to.”
The royal commentator also discussed what he thinks the Queen will discuss in this year’s speech.
He said: “The emphasis will undoubtedly be on thanking those who have participated in the community service, within the NHS and coping with an unprecedented deadly pathogen.”
But he expects the overarching message to be optimistic.
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The expert also expects the monarch to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their recent royal tour of the British Isles.
He said: “I would expect there would probably be a mention of Beatrice’s wedding and the royal train journey as that gave the royal photo opportunity at Windsor.”
The Queen’s Christmas speech will air at 3pm and will last for 10 minutes.
The address will be shown on BBBC One and ITV and will also be available on BBC Radio 4 at the same time.
The Christmas broadcast will also be made available on Amazon’s Alexa-enabled device for the first time.
Asking an Amazon Echo speaker or other smart-device “Alexa, play The Queen’s Christmas Day Message” or “Alexa, play Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Day Message” after 3pm on Christmas day will play a recording of the speech.
