King Charles offers ‘heartfelt thanks’ to health workers in Christmas message

London: The King has delivered a personal message of gratitude to health workers who have supported him during his cancer treatment in his annual Christmas speech.

In a candid message, Charles offered his “heartfelt thanks” to the doctors and nurses who helped with the “uncertainties and anxieties of illness”.

In his third festive address to the nation, the King said the medical teams had provided the “strength, care and comfort we have needed” this year and also thanked all those who have sent their “kind words of sympathy and encouragement”.

Charles broke with recent practice by recording his broadcast away from royal residences and choosing instead a location where generations had prayed for relief from sickness: a former hospital chapel for which George VI laid the foundation stone in 1928.

This year’s broadcast was delivered in the Fitzrovia Chapel in London. It had been the former chapel of the Middlesex Hospital, reflecting the theme of paying respect to those working in health services.

After a difficult 12 months for the royal family, the affection towards the monarchy by outside Sandringham well-wishers earlier in the day was especially poignant this year.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, Prince William, King Charles and Prince George of Wales attend the 2024 Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church.Credit: Getty Images

Many of those who made the Christmas morning pilgrimage to Norfolk came to show their support after what has been an agonisingly hard year for the royal family.

Charles has been undergoing treatment since February, while his daughter-in-law, Catherine, Princess of Wales, had major abdominal surgery followed by chemotherapy.

King Charles III speaks during the recording of his Christmas message at the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London.Credit: AP

The Queen has also suffered pneumonia, and the King’s sister, Anne, Princess Royal, was hospitalised with a serious head injury after an accident with a horse.

“All of us go through some form of suffering at some stage in our life, be it mental or physical,” he said, but the “measure of our civilisation” is how people are supported at such moments.

The message, recorded earlier this month, expressed his gratitude for “selfless” medical professionals and volunteers who used their skills to “care for others – often at some cost to themselves”.

He acknowledged the help given to others in his family and thanked the public for their kind words and messages after his cancer diagnosis was revealed.

The broadcast showed him meeting cancer patients, when he returned to public engagements in April, during a visit to University College London Hospital.

The King’s treatment will continue into 2025, but as a positive sign, he is planning a busy schedule of visits and overseas trips next year.

Another major theme of the speech was community cohesion. The King praised the efforts of those who had sought to build bridges between communities after the summer riots that had followed a knife attack in Southport.

“I felt a deep sense of pride here in the United Kingdom when, in response to anger and lawlessness in several towns this summer, communities came together, not to repeat these behaviours, but to repair. To repair not just buildings, but relationships,” he said.

“Diversity of culture, ethnicity and faith provides strength, not weakness,” said the King, who praised efforts to “respect our differences, to defeat prejudice”.

The King’s words echo the Christmas message given by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, in 2004, when she addressed community tensions, saying “diversity is indeed a strength and not a threat”.

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