King Charles breaks huge royal Christmas protocol with his speech

King Charles’ speech is due to be aired at 3pm on Christmas Day this year, marking the fourth year of his annual festive broadcast.

However, there is one key change planned that hugely shakes up the usual royal tradition.

King George V originated the tradition of the royal Christmas speech in 1932. Queen Elizabeth, Charles’ late mother, televised it for the first time in 1957 and delivered 69 speeches over her reign.

Since 1960, the speeches have been recorded in advance so that they can be sent to Commonwealth countries and be broadcast at the most optimal viewing time locally.

It is one of the British monarch’s most famous royal duties, where they reflect on the year about to pass, current events, and what Christmas means in the context of that year specifically.

Queen Elizabeth delivered 69 Christmas speeches during her reign, with them being televised from 1957 (Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 2024, King Charles switched up tradition by filming the speech outside of a royal residence, which hadn’t been done since 2006.

While many of us were used to Elizabeth’s iconic palace backdrops, Charles decided to instead film at Fitzrovia Chapel, Pearson Square, in London - the former chapel of Middlesex Hospital.

This was a powerful choice as it was announced at the end of 2024 that he was undergoing cancer treatment.

The treatment for his undisclosed cancer continued this year, but he announced on December 12 the ‘good news’ that it will be ‘reduced’ in the new year.

This year, Charles seeks to break convention again, as his speech has been filmed at a new location never previously used for a royal Christmas speech.

Queen Elizabeth usually opted to record hers inside Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or Sandringham House, but it seems Charles does not want to follow this tradition, instead opting for locations that are more thematically on-brand for the contents of the speech that year.

King Charles in Lady Chapel for the 2025 Christmas speech (Getty Images / Aaron Chown)

This year, he filmed the speech at the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey in London.

The chapel has an extremely layered, rich royal history - being a church of pilgrimage, which means that people are usually attracted to it for religious journeys, spiritual reasons, or to visit important relics.

Historically, pilgrims are drawn to this ancient abbey to honour the legacy of Edward the Confessor, whose Shrine is located there.

Lady Chapel is also the burial site of 15 Kings and Queens, including Elizabeth I, Mary I and Mary Queen of Scots.

So, I wonder what the theme could be for this year?