KEY POINTS:
The Queen's Christmas message, recorded at Southwark Cathedral, this year focussed on the relationship between different generations - what the young and old have to offer each other and how faiths can nurture respect for the elderly.
The message is was offered this year as a podcast for the first time, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The Queen stressed the importance of the relationship between the generations in her Christmas message this year. She talked of how different religions all highlighted the need to nurture and guide the young.
Her message, which was filmed at Southwark Cathedral in London, was available as a podcast for the first time.
"The wisdom and experience of the great religions point to the need to nurture and guide the young, and to encourage respect for the elderly.
Earlier she paid tribute to the "courage and loyalty" of the armed forces and spoke of the "great personal risk" that soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan had faced.
In her Christmas message to the armed forces, the Queen spoke of the "difficult and dangerous circumstances" in which the military operated and expressed admiration for the sacrifices they were making.
"Your courage and loyalty are not lightly taken. It is a pledge which calls for sacrifice and devotion to duty. And I know that yours is a job which often calls for great personal risk."
She said troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were making "an enormous contribution in helping to rebuild those countries". Her thoughts were with the families and friends of service personnel who had lost their lives in action.
- INDEPENDENT
