King's Christmas message to reflect on his and Kate's cancer
In a break with recent tradition, King Charles has chosen to record this year’s Christmas message in a tiny hospital chapel, to reflect on the challenging year both he and his daughter-in-law, Kate, have experienced battling cancer.
The King asked to move the broadcast location away from a royal residence and tasked the production team with finding a place that had a health connection but was still a spiritual and community space.
The venue was the Fitzrovia Chapel, once a place of worship and contemplation for patients and medical staff of the Middlesex hospital which surrounded it.
The hospital, which was merged with University College Hospital London, was demolished but the tiny 18th Century chapel was left untouched as the site was redeveloped.
It’s the first time since 2006 that a monarch has chosen to record the traditional speech away from a residence like Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
The King wanted this year’s message to reflect on the challenging year he has suffered following his cancer diagnosis for which he is still receiving treatment.
The location also means the King has included the Princess of Wales in his thoughts after she had her own cancer diagnosis followed by a course of chemotherapy.
The year-end speech, always broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day, is Charles’ third since he ascended to the throne.
His previous speeches were recorded at St George's Chapel inside Windsor Castle and in the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace overlooking The Mall.
Fitzrovia Chapel is just moments away from London’s busy Oxford Street shops but provides a quiet, secluded and peaceful place for all faiths.
It retains a link to the newly-built UCLH hospital in nearby Euston.
The Grade II* listed building has a plain exterior but inside, it is decorated in a Gothic revival style with marble and gold leaf and Byzantine-inspired architecture.
Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
The King agreed on the location without visiting the chapel.
"He was pretty surprised and kind of delighted, as far as I can tell, from coming in and discovering it”, said Carla Whalen, chair of the Fitzrovia Chapel Foundation's board of trustees.
A royal source described the King as being “bowled over” by its beauty and the fact that its location is largely unknown.
Ms Whalen added: "He was very interested in the marble, there's 40 types of marble here and lots of different designs and he wanted to learn about the history of the chapel and some of the people who are commemorated here.
A palace source said: “Obviously it made sense it had some form of health connection, because that of course has been a dominant theme for the family in all kinds of different ways.
"Secondly and equally importantly, that it should speak in some way of bringing communities together...thirdly of course it does helps if it looks rather beautiful and is a place of spiritual solace and reflection.”
The Christmas message will be broadcast on most TV channels at 3pm, local time, in the UK and the other Commonwealth Realms.
New episodes of Talking Royals are released every week - listen and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.