King’s Christmas message to come from former hospital chapel

This year’s Christmas message from King Charles will be delivered from a former hospital chapel, in a year in which the King has been undergoing cancer treatment.

The location for the traditional Christmas Day broadcast is the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London, which once served as the chapel of the Middlesex Hospital.

It’s the first time in more than a decade that the Christmas speech has been recorded from a place that isn’t in a royal palace or estate – and it’s understood that the King wanted a location with a healthcare connection.

The ornately-decorated 19th Century former chapel building is now used for exhibitions and community events for people of any faiths and none.

As well as a link to the health services, the building also ties in with the King’s interest in trying to build bridges between different beliefs, backgrounds and religions.

The traditional speech from the monarch, recorded earlier this month, will be broadcast as usual on television and radio at 15:00 on Christmas Day.

The Christmas message comes at the end of a year in which the King faced a cancer diagnosis.

His regular sessions of treatment are continuing, as they have for much of this year, but as a sign of a positive response, he has plans for a busy schedule of engagements and overseas trips in 2025.

Setting the speech in this former hospital chapel, which was renovated and reopened in 2016, will be a reminder of those working in the health services and medical research.

The King has been filmed beside a Christmas tree, which has since been donated to a hospice in Clapham.

The small chapel, decorated in the Gothic Revival style with shimmering mosaics and Byzantine influences, is tucked away in Pearson Square, in a quiet corner of London’s West End.

It was built in the courtyard of what was the Middlesex Hospital, serving its staff and patients. When the hospital was demolished the chapel was retained and restored, with a new development built around it.

It’s no longer regularly used for services, but is used for community events and concerts and is open to visitors wanting some quiet contemplation.

The monarch’s Christmas message has often been recorded in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.

But there have been exceptions, most recently in 2010 when it was filmed at Hampton Court Palace, and before that in 2006 at Southwark Cathedral. In 2003 the speech was recorded at an army barracks in Windsor.

The run-up to Christmas has seen the King attending a series of seasonal events, including a Christmas market in Battersea, a service remembering those persecuted because of their religion and an event in Walthamstow celebrating the diversity of the local community.

The King’s speech on Christmas Day follows a tradition dating back to 1932, when George V made the first Christmas broadcast.

That first speech was scripted by Rudyard Kipling, who lay in state in the Fitzrovia Chapel before his funeral in Westminster Abbey.