The Queen was always going to be a hard act to follow – but is King Charles overstepping the mark?
For seven decades many of us welcomed his mother into our sitting rooms.
At 3pm every Christmas Day, a chance for families and friends to pause and for the Queen to address us all. In so many ways, she was always going to be a much loved, and very hard act to follow.
The King’s message immediately looked different from the Queen’s recordings we’ve seen in recent years. Not sitting behind a desk with significant photos alongside him, but instead standing up inside St George’s Chapel, the perfect location to begin what was in part a loving tribute to his mother, just months after she was buried there at Windsor Castle.
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It was the Queen’s example of service he again encouraged us to take inspiration from, as with the deepest respect for his mother’s way, he is beginning to show how he wants to do things differently.
We’d got used to his mother’s subtlety in her annual messages. I remember one recently where she mentioned simply how it had been a bumpy year; she didn’t need to spell out the specific issues of political turmoil and problems she’d had with her own family.
Her son it seems wants to be more straight-talking, dedicating several minutes of his message to focus on what he calls a time of “great anxiety and hardship”. He doesn’t hold back in spelling out what for him is an indisputable fact, that many are struggling and it’s really community heroes who are keeping the country going.
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Watch the King’s Christmas message
Is King Charles being political?
We clearly have a new king for whom the cost of living crisis, and what he can do in his new role, is playing on his mind; he wants to express a sense of empathy albeit from a position of immense privilege.
What’s tricky is when you put his message in the context of the strike deadlock we’ve seen before Christmas involving many of the public sector workers that he name-checks and praises, ambulance staff, nurses, etc, and why some may suggest he’s erring on the side of being political.
His focus on faith is also particularly striking. Both his own and recognising the diverse religious communities that make up the United Kingdom.
While the Queen was so private about many aspects of her life, her strong Christian beliefs were something she wore very publicly. It hasn’t always been the same with her son.
But just like his first address to the nation after the Queen died he obviously wants to reinforce in our minds how much guidance he also takes from his own Christian beliefs; particularly interesting from a man who once seemed to suggest that he would be a “Defender of faith” more generally rather than “Defender of the Faith” when he became monarch.
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Now as supreme governor of the Church of England he is firmly committing himself to that role. But not to the exclusion of others. I’m not sure the Queen always specifically name-checked other religions in the way the King does or tried to talk so directly to those who don’t believe.
The fact he addresses everyone “whatever faith you have or whether you have none” he couldn’t be clearer that he doesn’t want anyone to feel excluded, he wants to be a King for all.
King Charles III on his way to church with the royal family. Pic: AP
A defining year for the monarchy
As we head into what will be another defining year for the monarchy that sense of reaching out and connecting will only gather pace in the lead-up to the Coronation, a moment the palace hope won’t just mark a change of reign, but showcase to the world a celebration of what Great Britain is today, a vibrant and diverse United Kingdom.
This Christmas broadcast begins that process. A message of inclusion, understanding, and empathy from a man who said he wouldn’t meddle as monarch, but still it would seem has plenty to say.
Only with time will it become clearer if in his new role it’s felt he’s saying too much and overstepping the mark.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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