How Queen Elizabeth’s 2020 Address Differed From Previous Years

While Queen Elizabeth‘s annual Christmas address has become a notable tradition for so many, there was a notable difference in this year’s broadcast.

The Queen, who celebrated her 94th birthday this past April, gave her speech in Windsor Castle, where she had to spend Christmas for the first time since 1987, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Queen commemorated all of the struggles and difficulties that many faced throughout 2020 but continued to wish viewers a Merry Christmas.

However, many were caught off-guard by the lack of photos on the Queen’s table. In previous years, the table is usually filled with multiple photos of different members of her family. This year, however, the Queen’s table only featured one picture, which was of her husband Prince Phillip.

In 2019, the Queen notably left out pictures of her grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan Markle, which many people speculated meant that they had departed from the royal family. The couple proceeded to announce two weeks later that they were stepping back from their roles within the family and officially resigned on April 1, 2020.

The Queen refrained from sharing any personal details from the past year in her speech, not mentioning Prince Harry and Meghan’s departure or her granddaughter, Princess Beatrice’s, marriage. She instead focused on the hardships of 2020 and hope looking ahead.

“The Bible tells how a star appeared in the sky, its light guiding the shepherds and wise men to the scene of Jesus’s birth. Let the light of Christmas, the spirit of selflessness, love and, above all, hope, guide us in the times ahead. It is in that spirit that I wish you a very happy Christmas.”