King Charles to Deliver Christmas Address from Westminster Abbey

King Charles III’s Christmas message this year will be broadcast from Westminster Abbey, marking a continuation of his move away from palace settings for the annual address.

The speech was recorded in the Lady Chapel of the historic London church and comes shortly after the King shared positive news about his response to cancer treatment earlier this month. The address will be aired at 3:00 pm on Christmas Day.

According to palace sources, the King is expected to reflect on life as a “pilgrimage,” using the idea to draw lessons relevant to the challenges and concerns of the present day.

The King will deliver the traditional Christmas address from the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey.

Last year’s Christmas message was filmed at the Fitzrovia Chapel, a former hospital chapel, chosen to underline the King’s appreciation for healthcare workers. This year’s setting places him beneath the Lady Chapel’s medieval vaulted ceiling, in a space that serves as the burial site for 15 monarchs, including Elizabeth I, Mary I and Charles II.

For the second consecutive year, the King will not be seated at a desk inside a royal residence. Instead, he will be shown standing near Christmas trees that were installed at the Abbey for the Princess of Wales’s carol service earlier this month.

Westminster Abbey has played a central role in the King’s recent engagements. It hosted his Advent service, which featured prayers and music from a range of Christian traditions, including Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox. Icons were displayed during that service, reflecting the King’s long-standing interest in interfaith dialogue.

That theme was also evident during his visit to the Vatican earlier this year, when he presented Pope Leo with an icon of St Edward the Confessor, a saint closely associated with Westminster Abbey.

The monarch’s Christmas broadcast is a tradition dating back to 1932, when King George V first addressed the nation by radio. Queen Elizabeth II delivered the first televised Christmas message in 1957, and the annual address remains one of the most widely watched programmes on Christmas Day.