The Queen poses after recording her Christmas message. There are some faces missing from those photos. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen poses after recording her Christmas message. There are some faces missing from those photos. Photo / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth's annual Christmas Day message is a royal family tradition, but this year a glaring detail in the background of the broadcast – and a reference to a "quite bumpy" year – may reignite the flames of feud rumours.
In a preview of the Queen's address, filmed in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle and to be broadcast on Christmas Day, framed photos can be seen in the background.
Despite there being pictures of Prince Charles and Camilla, the Cambridges, Prince Philip and even King George IV, there is not a single photo of Harry, Meghan or baby Archie.
The Queen posing for a photo after recording her Christmas message, to be broadcast tomorrow. Note the pictures next to her. Photo / Getty Images
It comes as the Sussexes spend this Christmas – their first as a family of three – away from the royal family, with Harry, Meghan and Archie across the Atlantic in Canada, a spokesperson confirmed.
In her address, Queen Elizabeth acknowledged that 2019 had been "quite bumpy", a comment that could be interpreted as a reference to the UK as it struggles through Brexit or perhaps more personal – the intense public scrutiny of the Sussexes and strain between brothers Harry and William.
Speaking about the life of Jesus and importance of reconciliation, the Queen, dressed in a royal blue cashmere dress noted " … how small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding.
"The path, of course, is not always smooth and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy," she continued, "but small steps can make a world of difference."
It's understood Meghan's mum Doria Ragland will join the Sussexes for Christmas Day, and the young family will also spend time with Meghan's best friend Jessica Mulroney and her family.
The decision has the Queen's support, a royal spokesperson said last month.
Harry, Meghan and Archie will miss Queen Elizabeth's traditional Christmas gathering this year to spend time with Meghan's mum Doria Ragland on Christmas Day. Photo / AP
Meanwhile William and Kate and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, will celebrate Christmas with the royal family at Sandringham.
It is not unprecedented for royal family members to skip out on the Christmas celebrations with the Queen; in the past the Cambridges have opted to spend the day with Kate's parents and siblings, the Middletons.
Harry and Meghan's decision to spend Christmas away from the royal family follows a year of highs and lows for the Sussexes. In May they welcomed their first child, Archie, a joyous occasion. But in October, in a teary interview for documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan confessed to the toll the relentless public scrutiny has taken on her.
"I never thought it would be easy," she said of life in the royal family under the spotlight of the British tabloid press and social media, "but I thought it would be fair".
