The King has used his Christmas address to urge people to adopt a ‘digital detox’ over the festive season and focus on family and friends.
Charles, 77, also highlighted the power of community unity in an increasingly divided and fractured world.
Highlighting the bravery of the last wartime generation, he pointedly chose a Ukrainian choir to sing the Christmas carol featured in his annual broadcast to the nation, Realms and Commonwealth.
For the second time in his reign, King Charles chose to film his ‘speech’ at a venue outside of a royal residence.
This year it was the breathtaking Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, the spiritual home of the Royal Family for 1,000 years and home to the tombs of 15 Kings and Queens.
His choice of venue meant the King could also reuse the Christmas trees and decorations put up earlier this month for the Princess of Wales’s annual carol service as part of his commitment to sustainability.
Notably the address featured a strong message for the creators and consumers of social media and what the monarch believes is a worrying ‘digital overload’, particularly for young people.
Describing how ‘our world seems to spin ever faster’ the King emphasised that taking time out to get to know our neighbours or make new friends can provide, in the words of TS Eliot, ‘the still point of the turning world’.
King Charles has used his Christmas address to urge people to adopt a ‘digital detox’ over the festive season and focus on family and friends
The speech was filmed inside the breathtaking Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, the spiritual home of the Royal Family for 1,000 years
It also offers precious time to ‘quieten our minds’ and ‘allow our souls to renew’.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman explained: ‘When His Majesty references that lovely phrase about the “still point in the turning world” at a time when, as he puts it, it’s “spinning ever faster” he has in mind the effect that new technologies can have on society, and how they can impact both on community cohesion and on general well-being, especially for younger people.’
He added: ‘I think His Majesty hopes that, if nothing else, Christmas might afford a moment when people could experiment with something of a “digital detox” to focus more on our friendships, our families and our faith for those who practice.
‘In this way The King hopes our minds may find greater peace, our souls can renew, and our communities grow stronger.’
It is a theme other senior royals have seized on this year, including the Princess of Wales who recently co-wrote an essay about how she believes the overload of smartphones and computer screens is creating an ‘epidemic of disconnection’ that disrupts family life.
She wrote: ‘While digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite’, describing how gadgets have become a ‘constant distraction, fragmenting our focus’ and undermining the time that families spend together.
‘When we check our phones during conversations, scroll through social media during family dinners, or respond to e-mails while playing with our children, we’re not just being distracted, we are withdrawing the basic form of love that human connection requires,’ wrote the princess as part of her early years education campaign.
Her husband Prince William later revealed that none of their three children were allowed to have smartphones.
King Charles III joined 101-year-old Second World War veteran Ruth Barnwell at a tea party in Buckingham Palace, to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day in May
While he made a point of not focusing on his own news regarding his ongoing cancer treatment, Charles’s words were accompanied by footage of himself and other senior royals undertaking duties throughout the year.
These included, appropriately, several armed forces events including a veterans’ tea party at Buckingham Palace in May to mark the VE Day commemorations and the King and Queen at the National Arboretum for the subsequent VJ Day event.
The King could also be seen visiting Manchester following the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue attack and placing a lighted candle during the Auschwitz 80th anniversary commemorations in Poland.
Prince William and his eldest son, Prince George, were shown visiting The Passage homeless charity together for the first time, while The Princess of Wales featured in her Together At Christmas Carol service.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh featured on a visit to Tokyo and Princess Anne in Kyiv.
The broadcast also included late-added scenes of mourners at Bondi Beach following the recent terror atrocity there.
Referring to this summer’s 80th anniversary commemorations of VE and VJ Day, the King said: ‘The end of the Second World War is now remembered by fewer and fewer of us, as the years pass.
‘But the courage and sacrifice of our servicemen and women, and the way communities came together in the face of such great challenge, carry a timeless message for us all.
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The King also visited Manchester following the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue attack
‘These are the values which have shaped our country and the Commonwealth.
‘As we hear of division, both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight.
‘It is impossible not to be deeply moved by the ages of the fallen – as the gravestones in our War Cemeteries remind us. The young people who fought and helped save us from defeat in both World Wars were often only 18, 19, or 20 years of age.’
The address also heavily featured the King’s historic State Visit to The Holy See and Pope Leo XIV in October, which saw him become the first head of the Church of England to publicly pray with the leader of Catholic faith.
Charles described it as an ‘historic moment of spiritual unity’ and emphasised the way in which it highlighted the essence of ‘pilgrimage’.
‘It is about journeying forward, into the future, while also journeying back to remember the past and learn from its lessons,’ he said.
Notably Westminster Abbey, the scene of the broadcast, is also somewhere that continues to be a place of pilgrimage, with travellers honouring the legacy of Edward the Confessor, the only English King to be made a Saint, whose Shrine lies at the heart of the Abbey.
Highlighting his key themes of kindness, compassion, hope, King Charles added that the Christmas story, highlighting as it does the importance of physical and mental strength in times of difficulty, had a message for the world today.
The King’s historic State Visit to The Holy See and Pope Leo XIV in October saw him become the first head of the Church of England to publicly pray with the leader of Catholic faith
‘To this day, in times of uncertainty, these ways of living are treasured by all the great Faiths and provide us with deep wells of hope: of resilience in the face of adversity; peace through forgiveness; simply getting to know our neighbours and, by showing respect to one another, creating new friendships,’ he said.
‘In this, with the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong.
‘This year, I have heard so many examples of this, both here and abroad.
‘These stories of the triumph of courage over adversity give me hope, from our venerable military veterans to selfless humanitarian workers in this century’s most dangerous conflict zones; to the ways in which individuals and communities display spontaneous bravery, instinctively placing themselves in harm’s way to defend others.’
He added: ‘As I meet people of different faiths, I find it enormously encouraging to hear how much we have in common; a shared longing for peace and a deep respect for all life.
‘If we can find time in our journey through life to think on these virtues we can all make the future more hopeful. ‘
It is understood that the King sees one of his central roles as being a bridge between communities, different faiths, ideologies and nations and feels ‘strongly’ about the importance of finding strength in diversity and friendship.
The choir chosen to perform this year’s Christmas carol during the address was the Songs for Ukraine Chorus, founded in 2023 in response to the war in Ukraine and to bring together singers from across the Ukrainian community and supporters living in the UK.
‘Carol of the Bells’ is also based on a song by Ukrainian Composer, Mykola Leontovych.
Sources said the King has long found ways to support the Ukrainian community. indeed just weeks ago he welcomed President Zelensky to Windsor Castle with full ceremonial honours for the first time.
Only the monarch knows the details of his speech in advance, with other family members joining the rest of the nation and Commonwealth in sitting down to listen to it at 3pm.
Notably this year’s televised address, filmed by the BBC, was the fourth time that has not seen Charles standing behind a desk, a style favoured by his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
Sources said it was inevitable that the King’s style would evolve and, while he just likes standing to deliver messages and actually finds it easier to read his autocue that way, he also believes it enables him to connect with people more.
