ROYAL WATCH

Sean Coughlan A warm welcome and Happy Christmas from all of us at Royal Watch. This has been a bumper few days for the royals. If they switched on the television in Sandringham they stood a good chance of seeing themselves, whether it was the King’s Christmas message, their walk to church on Christmas morning or in a big documentary about the first year of the King’s reign. In fact, this festive edition of Royal Watch also looks back on some of the highs, lows and headlines. So put your feet up and enjoy what’s left of the Christmas break. 🎄ROYAL CHRISTMAS QUIZ🎄 Who wrote the very first royal Christmas message, delivered by King George V in 1932?   A) King George himself B) BBC founding father Lord Reith C) Poet and writer Rudyard Kipling Read to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer, and last weeks' too!   Festive Fergie It’s been a big Christmas week for the royals. The King delivered his Christmas message, recorded in Buckingham Palace beside a living, replantable Christmas tree. This was a seasonal symbol for a speech that touched on some of the King’s most personal causes – including protecting the environment. The King recorded his message overlooking the Mall. Credit: PA He also spoke about the shared universal values that are common to major religions, against a backdrop of war in the Middle East, urging people to remember: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The King’s broadcast had the biggest TV audience of Christmas Day, 7.48 million across all channels, although even that is a reminder of changing media habits. Back in the 1990s, popular Christmas shows in the 1990s could get 20 million viewers. Sarah Ferguson greeted crowds at Sandringham. Credit: Reuters The 1990s were also the last time Sarah Ferguson appeared on the royal equivalent of the Christmas Day red carpet. But this year, the irrepressible Fergie was back in Sandringham walking to church with the Royal Family. Eagle-eyed spectators also noticed how many of the royals seemed to be wearing exactly the same scarf, including Princess Anne and her husband. Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence sporting the scarf in question. Credit: Mark Cuthbert/Getty It seemed to be a Prince of Wales Heritage Scarf from the Highgrove shop. Was it a last minute present for the relatives? Staff discount anyone? A more ornate type of clothing was seen in a major BBC royal documentary this week. Charles III: The Coronation Year followed the King and Queen in the intricate preparations for their crowning in May. It showed that the King’s sense of humour remained intact, including giggling when the Archbishop of Canterbury forgot the words of a prayer during a rehearsal.   This photo of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis was posted to social media on Christmas Day. Credit: Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace     • King’s message: Universal values at a time of conflict     • King Charles jokes about 'sausage fingers' in Coronation film How the royals spent 2023 The death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 was always going be a moment of change, a dividing line between one era and the next. So how did the Royal Family manage in the first full year of the new reign of King Charles? Here’s an in-depth look at some of the main moments from across 2023.   Coronation game For many of us, the Coronation of King Charles III in May was the first we’d seen in our lifetime. It was a mix of 1,000-year old customs and ceremonies and a deliberate attempt to introduce more diversity, including people from different faiths and backgrounds. That combination of historic pomp and modern touches extended to the carriage that brought the King and Queen to Westminster Abbey, with its ornate exterior and an inside that had air-conditioning and electric windows. Air conditioning and electric windows can make a difference in the heat, even on a royal carriage. Credit: Philip Coburn/Pool via REUTERS Inside the Abbey, it was a spectacular setting, with the crowns and swords, the ornate costumes and pageantry. It was also the social event of the year, with guests including President Macron, Ant and Dec, and Lionel Ritchie. As King Charles sat in the 700-year-old coronation chair housing the Stone of Destiny, the congregation listened to his choice of music, which ranged from a gospel choir to Greek Orthodox music, pieces sung in Welsh, and classical composers such as William Byrd. King Charles III is crowned with St Edward's Crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in Westminster Abbey. Credit: Victoria Jones/PA Wire The new King was anointed with special oil from a gilt and pearl spoon dating from the 12th century. But in a break from tradition, it was made from olives to be cruelty-free, in contrast with the oil and ambergris from civets and whales used in previous ceremonies. The anointing of King Charles was the most private and sacred moment of the Coronation, taking place behind a specially built screen. Credit: Victoria Jones/Pool via Reuters Alongside King Charles was his wife, Queen Camilla. After she was crowned, the use of the term “Queen Consort” was dropped and she simply became “the Queen”. It marked another milestone for the couple and changing public attitudes to their relationship. The spectacle of so much gold and glamour in the middle of a cost of living crisis did not go down well with some, and the Coronation itself faced protests from anti-monarchy campaigners. There was an awareness of such sensitivities and later some of the special chairs made for the Coronation were sold off to raise money for a homelessness charity. But after his mother’s unprecedentedly long reign, King Charles set a tone that tried to mix tradition with a sense of a much more diverse country, described in his own terms as a “community of communities”. • Your complete guide to the King's coronation • The dazzling crown that made a king   Acts of kindness Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, made 2023 the year they took action on the matters close to their heart. They’ve pushed for a different way of doing things - wanting to make more of an impact on a more specific range of issues and places. Homewards, William’s five-year plan to tackle homelessness across the UK, launched in June, setting up partnerships in six areas facing particular problems with a lack of affordable and accessible housing. William has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and other forms of temporary accommodation a thing of the past. Credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Catherine continued to focus on her early years campaign Shaping Us, describing it as “her life’s work”. As child poverty continues to rise in the UK, it’s an issue attracting more and more attention. She brought her children to a charity project providing Christmas gifts for struggling families, a visit with echoes of Princess Diana bringing her young sons to help at homelessness charities. In November Kate met group members during a visit to the "Dadvengers" community for dads and their children in north London. Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire Prince William has continued with his flagship environmental prize, Earthshot, which this year staged its big event in Singapore. In a combination of two of his interests, a seaweed-based packaging which previously won the Earthshot prize was used to wrap match-day food at his favourite football club, Aston Villa, in October. Prince Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded, injured or sick veterans entered its ninth year in September, and both the Wales and Sussex households kept mental health charities on their agenda. Harry and Meghan applaud medalists at this year's Invictus Games. Credit: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters • Prince William launches Homewards project to tackle homelessness   • Watch the BBC's Invictus Games coverage on iPlayer   Spare parts There have been many books written by royals over the centuries, but none like Spare, Prince Harry’s memoir which dominated headlines when published in January. It became the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time with its whirlwind of anger and anecdotes, lifting the lid on a life that mixes royal privilege, personal grief and emotion. Spare, pictured here in a bookshop in Turin, Italy, made headlines around the world. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Who would have expected a royal memoir to include fights between princes, drug taking and a frost-bitten extremity? You could almost hear the marmalade dropping in Buckingham Palace as the headlines rolled out, week after week. The book, like Prince Harry and Meghan, divided opinion, but people couldn’t stop talking about it. And it set an agenda for the year in which royal family tensions were as much a story as their public duties. But for all the controversy, Spare is also profoundly sad, detailing the impact a very public upbringing and devastating childhood trauma can have on a young mind. James Spencer, Diana's brother, a young Prince William and Prince Harry, and Prince Charles watch as Diana's hearse drives past at her funeral in 1997. Credit: PA Harry described his anxiety attacks, agoraphobia and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. He also described his long battles with the tabloid press. And in June, Prince Harry became the first senior royal in modern times to give extensive evidence in a witness box, in a phone hacking case brought against Mirror Group Newspapers. In December, when the case was decided, he won a landmark ruling, with a judge deciding that in 15 sample news stories the information had been gained either by phone hacking or other unlawful methods. Next year, expect more court battles against the press and possibly a thaw in family relations, as the BBC revealed that birthday calls were made to his father King Charles. Meghan and Prince Harry have continued to fascinate and divide public opinion. Credit: Reuters/Andrew Kelly   Spare has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. But it would not overshadow the main royal event of the year. In the years since, the tree has been joined by more modern Christmas traditions. Like arguing over when is “too early” to put up the tree. Or even whether Prince Harry is going to come back to visit. • Spare review: The weirdest book ever written by a royal   • Harry wins hacking payout in phone-hacking case against Mirror publisher   King Charles's first year The last months of 2023 brought a trio of landmarks for the King: the anniversary of his accession to the throne, his 75th birthday, and the launch of his Coronation Food Project tackling food waste and hunger across the country. The first anniversary of his reign in September raised questions about what King Charles was doing differently as monarch. The broad answer seemed to be ‘not much’. The emphasis of the new reign seems to have been about continuity and stability rather than any abrupt change. The rhythms and rituals of the royal year stayed in place and there were few signs of any radical modernisation. Charles and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier water a tree in the garden of the presidential Bellevue Palace in Berlin. Credit: Jens Schlueter/AFP But there were successful international trips where, as head of state, the King showed his long experience of such diplomatic missions. He impressed with his German-speaking skills in a speech in Berlin and he got a standing ovation from French parliamentarians in Paris. In Kenya he navigated the difficult history of colonialism, delivering a strongly-worded speech that said there were “no excuses” for the violence against Kenyans during their struggle for independence. The King delivered the keynote speech at the COP climate change conference in Dubai, although his choice of tie decorated with the Greek flag raised eyebrows amid a row about the Elgin Marbles back home. Charles and Rishi Sunak share a word at the COP28 conference in Dubai. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty The domestic message has been one of supporting social issues. It wasn’t champagne and glamour for his 75th birthday, but a trip to a warehouse in Oxfordshire on a project to increase supplies for food banks. And King Charles’s and Prince William’s backing for The Big Issue — as cover star and seller respectively — appear to send a message about where their priorities lie. Charles slipped Big Issue seller Kelvin a £10 note at the launch of the Coronation Food Project as Big Issue founder John Bird looked on. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty    There’s been much scrutiny of opinion polls to see what the public makes of the new reign. And there are two striking features which will offer comfort for both those for and against the royal institution. King Charles and the monarchy continue to have broad public support. A YouGov poll to mark the first anniversary of his new reign found 62% of people in Britain wanted to continue with the monarchy. But underlying that is a significant generational divide, with only 37% of young people supporting the monarchy. Anti-monarchy protests have been a feature of the year at the Coronation and other royal events. Credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty    As we see this old year out, expect more overseas royal trips next year, with Australia widely mentioned. And as ever, it’s safe to expect more royal drama, in scandals, ceremonies and surprises. • Has the King's first year been a success?   • King Charles III: Seven big moments from his first year as King Tech Decoded Newsletter  Decode the biggest developments in global technology with a twice-weekly email.  Sign up here 🎄ROYAL CHRISTMAS QUIZ🎄 Whoops! A production error last week meant we cut off the answer to our royal Christmas quiz, which was A. The Royal Family lay out their presents on trestle tables and exchange gifts at teatime on Christmas Eve. Of course, it's very difficult to know what to get a royal with multiple crowns and castles. In Spare, Harry recalled a time when Princess Margaret gave him a pen with a small rubber fish attached for Christmas. Kate Middleton, before Meghan Markle was on the scene, reportedly got Harry a "grow your own girlfriend" kit. 🎄ANSWER🎄 Who wrote the very first royal Christmas message, delivered by King George V in 1932? The answer is C) poet and writer Rudyard Kipling. Lord Reith suggested the idea to King George in 1922 but the monarch did not approve of the idea, believing radio to be purely for entertainment. Ten years later Lord Reith tried again and, after a tour of the BBC facilities, the King agreed. His words went out to millions around the British Commmonwealth. "I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all," he said, "to men and women so cut off by the snows, the desert, or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them."