King to hail healthcare workers and communities in Christmas address – reports
The speech was reportedly recorded at the Fitzrovia Chapel, a former chapel of the Middlesex Hospital in central London.
The King’s Christmas message will focus on the efforts of healthcare workers following his cancer diagnosis and 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 some of the major events from the past 12 months, an eventful period for the royal family that also saw the Princess of Wales treated for cancer.
The Daily Telegraph has reported about the main issues the festive speech will focus on and revealed it was recorded earlier this month at the Fitzrovia Chapel, a former chapel of the Middlesex Hospital now closed and demolished.
For more than 100 years the chapel was a place of solace for patients, medical staff and the public and today is a much valued space for all in the area.
The paper said it understands the chapel reflects the key themes of the address – healthcare and community.
Charles recorded his message on December 11, one of the rare times a building outside the royal estate has been used, with the late Queen recording her message at Southwark Cathedral in 2006 and at Combermere Barracks in Windsor three years earlier.
The Grade II* listed chapel in central London close to Oxford Street has Byzantine-inspired architecture and is richly decorated in a Gothic revival style with marble and more than 500 stars in the gold leaf ceiling.