Elizabeth II used her traditional 3pm Christmas Day speech yesterday to highlight the importance of playing sport.
Broadcast from Hampton Court Palace for the very first time, the Queen said: "In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.
"These kinds of activity are common throughout the world and play a part in providing a different perspective on life."
Because the Queen is not involved in politics and is politcally neutral, most of the speeches she reads are written by the Government. However, the Christmas Day speech is almost unique as she writes it herself along with her husband Prince Philip.
Queen: Get of one's arse
By JAMES CLENCH, Royal Reporter
24 Dec 2010
The Sun
Royal message ... Queen on TV
THE Queen is making a special plea to Britain's "Royle families", urging: "Get off your sofas and play some sport."
Her Majesty will address the nation at 3pm and use her Christmas message to highlight the importance of sport in strengthening communities.
She wants to emphasise the way exercise can benefit couch potatoes like TV's comedy slob Jim Royle - whose catchphrase is "My a**e".
The Queen will say: "In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.
"These kinds of activity are common throughout the world and play a part in providing a different perspective on life."
TV's Royle family ... couch potatoes
BBC
Most of the royals are keen sportspeople. Some have even represented Britain - including the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips, a former world champion at three-day eventing. Her Majesty's Christmas Day TV broadcast will be illustrated by footage of princes William and Harry playing football with orphans in Lesotho, Africa.
The annual message is one of the rare occasions when the Queen does not turn to the Government for advice. Instead she is able to draw on her own experiences and views as she writes the speech herself.
The broadcast will be on TV and radio. It will also be available online on YouTube, and be shown across the Commonwealth and on British Forces Broadcasting Service. Christmas Day messages are normally recorded at Buckingham Palace, but this year the Queen has used Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court Palace
Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message features midwives in the maternity ward at Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton. The (left-wing) channel opted for a safer choice after 2008's controversial speech by Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and once had the speech read by a woman in a burka.
* ROYAL security has been stepped up amid fears anarchists are planning another ambush like the attack on Charles and Camilla in London during student protests. No royal cops will be disciplined following a review of the incident.
thesun.co.uk
Broadcast from Hampton Court Palace for the very first time, the Queen said: "In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.
"These kinds of activity are common throughout the world and play a part in providing a different perspective on life."
Because the Queen is not involved in politics and is politcally neutral, most of the speeches she reads are written by the Government. However, the Christmas Day speech is almost unique as she writes it herself along with her husband Prince Philip.
Queen: Get of one's arse
By JAMES CLENCH, Royal Reporter
24 Dec 2010
The Sun
Royal message ... Queen on TV
THE Queen is making a special plea to Britain's "Royle families", urging: "Get off your sofas and play some sport."
Her Majesty will address the nation at 3pm and use her Christmas message to highlight the importance of sport in strengthening communities.
She wants to emphasise the way exercise can benefit couch potatoes like TV's comedy slob Jim Royle - whose catchphrase is "My a**e".
The Queen will say: "In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.
"These kinds of activity are common throughout the world and play a part in providing a different perspective on life."
TV's Royle family ... couch potatoes
BBC
Most of the royals are keen sportspeople. Some have even represented Britain - including the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips, a former world champion at three-day eventing. Her Majesty's Christmas Day TV broadcast will be illustrated by footage of princes William and Harry playing football with orphans in Lesotho, Africa.
The annual message is one of the rare occasions when the Queen does not turn to the Government for advice. Instead she is able to draw on her own experiences and views as she writes the speech herself.
The broadcast will be on TV and radio. It will also be available online on YouTube, and be shown across the Commonwealth and on British Forces Broadcasting Service. Christmas Day messages are normally recorded at Buckingham Palace, but this year the Queen has used Hampton Court Palace.
Hampton Court Palace
Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message features midwives in the maternity ward at Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton. The (left-wing) channel opted for a safer choice after 2008's controversial speech by Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and once had the speech read by a woman in a burka.
* ROYAL security has been stepped up amid fears anarchists are planning another ambush like the attack on Charles and Camilla in London during student protests. No royal cops will be disciplined following a review of the incident.
thesun.co.uk
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