King Charles set to hail healthcare workers in Christmas message amid monarch's cancer treatment

King Charles breaks royal tradition with Christmas speech
GB News
Ed Griffiths

By Ed Griffiths


Published: 23/12/2024

- 16:17

The King's speech will be broadcast on GB News at 3pm on Christmas Day

The King's Christmas message will reportedly focus on the efforts of healthcare workers following his cancer diagnosis announced in February earlier this year.

In addition, King Charles will hail community cohesion in the wake of riots after the Southport stabbings, it has been reported.


Charles's annual address to the nation will highlight several major events from the past 12 months, an eventful period for the Royal Family that also saw the Princess of Wales undergo cancer treatment.

Princess Kate announced in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer; however, in a boost to her health, she released an emotional video in September announcing she had completed preventative chemotherapy.

King Charles

The King's Christmas message will reportedly focus on the efforts of healthcare workers

Getty

The location for the traditional Christmas Day broadcast is the Fitzrovia Chapel in London, according to The Telegraph, which once served as the chapel of the Middlesex Hospital.

This marks the first time in more than a decade that the Christmas speech has been recorded from a place that is not in a royal palace or estate.

For more than a century, the chapel has been a place of solace for patients, medical staff, and the public.

It is also understood that the King wanted a location with a healthcare connection.

King Charles

Charles's annual address to the nation will be broadcast is the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London

Getty

The 19th-century former chapel building is now used for exhibitions and community events for people of all faiths.

The building is linked to health services and also reflects the King's interest in building bridges between people of different beliefs, backgrounds, and religions.

Charles recorded his message just days ago on December 11.

The late Queen Elizabeth also recorded two Christmas messages at non-royal venues, opting for Southwark Cathedral in 2006 and at Combermere Barracks in Windsor three years earlier.

King CharlesKing Charles posing for his Christmas speech back in 2023PA

The Grade II* listed chapel in central London close to Oxford Street, with Byzantine-inspired architecture, is richly decorated in a Gothic revival style with marble, with more than 500 stars in the gold leaf ceiling.

Palace sources told GB News that King Charles's cancer treatment is set to continue next year.

Insiders from the palace said: "His treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year".

The traditional speech from the monarch, recorded on December 11, will be broadcast on GB News across the nation at 3pm on Christmas Day.

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