00:00He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments, but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years, and I and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.
02:08so often treasure their Christmas routines. We see our own children and their families
02:15embrace the roles, traditions and values that mean so much to us, as these are passed from
02:22one generation to the next, sometimes being updated for changing times. I see it in my
02:30own family, and it is a source of great happiness.
02:33Prince Philip was always mindful of this sense of passing the baton. That's why he
02:41created the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which offers young people throughout the Commonwealth
02:47and beyond the chance of exploration and adventure. It remains an astonishing success, grounded
02:55in his faith in the future. He was also an early champion of taking seriously
03:03our stewardship of the environment. And I am proud beyond words that his pioneering work
03:10has been taken on and magnified by our eldest son, Charles, and his eldest son, William, admirably
03:18supported by Camilla and Catherine, most recently at the COP Climate Change Summit in Glasgow.
03:25Next summer, we look forward to the Commonwealth Games. The baton is currently travelling the length
03:35and breadth of the Commonwealth, heading towards Birmingham, a beacon of hope on its journey.
03:43It will be a chance to celebrate the achievements of athletes and the coming together of like-minded nations.
03:53And February, just six weeks from now, will see the start of my Platinum Jubilee year, which
03:59I hope will be an opportunity for people everywhere to enjoy a sense of togetherness, a chance to give thanks
04:08for the enormous changes of the last 70 years, social, scientific and cultural, and also to look ahead with confidence.
04:20I'm sure someone, somewhere today, will remark that Christmas is a time for children.
04:29It's an engaging truth, but only half the story. Perhaps it's truer to say that Christmas can speak to the child within us all.
04:39Adults, when weighed down with worries, sometimes fail to see the joy in simple things where children do not.
04:47And for me and my family, even with one familiar laugh missing this year, there will be joy in Christmas,
04:56as we have the chance to reminisce and see anew the wonder of the festive season through the eyes of our young children,
05:06of whom we were delighted to welcome four more this year.
05:10They teach us all a lesson, just as the Christmas story does, that in the birth of a child there is a new dawn with endless potential.
05:24It is this simplicity of the Christmas story that makes it so universally appealing.
05:31Simple happenings that form the starting point of the life of Jesus,
05:36a man whose teachings have been handed down from generation to generation,
05:41and have been the bedrock of my faith.
05:45His birth marked a new beginning.
05:50As the carol says,
05:52the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
05:58I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
06:01Moonlight Watchers
06:06I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
06:10I wish you all a had a new life in the world.
Be the first to comment