Queen’s Christmas message

The Queen Elizabeth II will use her Christmas Day message to acknowledge that 2019 has been “quite bumpy” but the path is never “smooth” but “small steps” can heal divisions.

 It comes after a year of intense political debate over Brexit as well as several personal events affecting the Royal Family.

 Her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, has left the King Edward VII’s hospital after four nights of treatment for a “pre-existing condition”.

 In Last January the Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a car crash while driving near the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Although he escaped uninjured, two women required hospital treatment.

 In September, the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex publicly revealed their struggles under the media spotlight during their tour of southern Africa.

 Last month, Duke of York withdrew from public life after a BBC interview about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who killed himself in August.

The Queen. 93, recorded her annual message to be broadcast on BBC One at 15:00 GMT on Christmas Day. She refers to the life of Jesus and the importance of reconciliation saying “small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding”.