Britain’s King Charles III has called for compassion, unity, and reconciliation in his 2025 Christmas message, urging people of all faiths to hold fast to shared values of peace at a time of deepening global division.
In the address, recorded at Westminster Abbey and broadcast across the United Kingdom on Thursday, the 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” that people from different religious traditions shared a “longing for peace.”
“Individuals and communities have displayed spontaneous bravery, instinctively placing themselves in harm’s way to defend others,” Charles said, referencing those who risked their lives during the recent killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia.
The king praised acts of courage in the face of violence and reflected on the enduring lessons of World War II, eighty years after its end.
“The courage of servicemen and women, and the way communities came together after the conflict, carry a timeless message for us all,” he said. “These are the values which have shaped our country. As we hear of division both at home and abroad, they are the values of which we must never lose sight.”
Emphasising national unity amid diversity, Charles added that strength could be found in shared compassion.
“With the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong,” he said. “It seems to me that we need to cherish the values of compassion and reconciliation the way our Lord lived and died.”
The king’s message featured images of his son and heir, Prince William, and grandson, Prince George, while concluding with a Christmas carol performed by a Ukrainian choir formed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
This year’s address marked the second consecutive Christmas that the monarch has delivered his message away from a royal residence. Last year, he spoke from a former hospital chapel, thanking medical staff who supported the royal family during his public cancer diagnosis.
Notably, the message made no mention of his health or his younger brother, Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles in October over his association with convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In recent months, Charles made several gestures aimed at fostering interfaith understanding. In October, he became the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope since the schism with Rome 500 years ago, joining Pope Leo XIV at a Vatican service he described as a “historic moment of spiritual unity.” Days later, he met survivors of a deadly synagogue attack and members of the Jewish community in Manchester.
The king and other members of the royal family including Prince Andrew’s daughters attended a Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene Church on his Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
