Christmas latest: Andrew's daughters join Royal Family at Sandringham without father - as King shares personal message

Throughout today, we'll also be bringing you some of the best festive stories from our team at Paste BN. Here, news reporter Michael Havis has spoken to someone about celebrating Christmas where it's banned.

By Michael Havis, news reporter

When Il-yong Ju was a child, something strange would happen in his tiny village in rural North Korea every December 25th.

His grandfather would visit and send him out to the mountains to cut down a pine tree. He would bring it home and small balls of cotton were hung on its branches.

In many countries, it's a familiar ritual: setting up and decorating a tree for Christmas Day. But in North Korea, December 25th is just another day and Christmas is effectively banned.

Ju said: "In my home, we just celebrated that kind of thing. But we didn't know what that day was about; just every December 25th, my grandfather asked us to do that.

"My grandfather taught us 'hey grandson, the other countries beside North Korea, every December 25th, they make this kind of tree and celebrate this day'."

Watch Il-yong Ju recount his experience here and read on below...

While many Christmas traditions have by now become internationalised, every country still has its own customs.

Take the quiz to test your knowledge around what people in other countries do around Christmas.

Historian Sir Anthony Seldon has just been speaking to us on Paste BN, after King Charles finished his Christmas address.

He tells chief presenter Mark Austin about the role religion plays in the monarch's message, and how it was similar to the late Queen Elizabeth's own festive messages.

Watch him speaking here...

We've just heard from King Charles, who delivered his annual address.

One part of the monarch's message included a pointed reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

While he did not mention the conflict by name, the Songs for Ukraine Chorus Choir sang during the address.

Founded in 2023 in response to Russia's invasion, it brings together singers from across the Ukrainian community and supporters living in the UK.

The carol they sang inside Westminster Abbey, Carol of the Bells, is based on a song by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. 

King Charles has hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a number of occasions this year.

On Paste BN, we've spoken to the leaders of the choir. Watch that here...

King Charles has shared a need for kindness, compassion and hope in "times of uncertainty" in his Christmas message this year.

Made from Westminster Abbey, the monarch says: "Stories of the triumph of courage over adversity give me hope".

The King also appears to encourage us all to switch off from our phones and devices, to "allow our souls to renew".

In the annual message - watch him making it in the stream at the top of the page - with the theme of pilgrimage, the King used the traditional Christmas story, the journey of the holy family and the shepherds and wise men visiting Jesus to reflect the challenges society faces today.

"In each case," he says, "they journeyed with others; and relied on the companionship and kindness of others. Through physical and mental challenge, they found an inner strength."

He adds:

"To this day, in times of uncertainty, these ways of living are treasured by all the great faiths and provide us with deep wells of hope: of resilience in the face of adversity; peace through forgiveness; simply getting to know our neighbours and, by showing respect to one another, creating new friendships."

Images are also shown of the aftermath of the recent Bondi Beach attack and the King's visit to the scene of the Manchester synagogue attack as he talks about the bravery of unexpected heroes.

"This year, I have heard so many examples of this, both here and abroad," he says.

Watch his full address here...

In five minutes, King Charles will deliver his fourth Christmas message to the nation. 

This year, the annual address was filmed in the Lady Chapel inside Westminster Abbey, the second time the monarch has recorded it away from a royal residence.

The palace has revealed the abbey was chosen for the setting this year to reflect a major theme of the message - pilgrimage.

Watch in the live stream at the top of this page.

In his Christmas sermon today, the Archbishop of York said that he was "intimidated" by Israeli militias during a visit to the Holy Land this year.

Stephen Cottrell told York Minster he was stopped at checkpoints and soldiers told him he could not visit Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.

He said: "We have become - and really, I can think of no other way of putting it - we have become fearful of each other, and especially fearful of strangers, or just people who aren't quite like us.

"We don't seem to be able to see ourselves in them, and therefore we spurn our common humanity."

He said they were "stopped at various checkpoints" and "intimidated by Israeli militias who told us that we couldn't visit Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank".

Watch his remarks in the video below...

Throughout the day, we're bringing you the stories behind the classic Christmas movies and songs that are bound to accompany you today...

The next classic Christmas movie is deemed one of the best films ever made - but spelt trouble for the producers: It's A Wonderful Life.

First released 20 December 1946

What's it about

A positive spin on the classic A Christmas Carol theme: an angel shows a failing business owner an alternative reality in which he never existed, helping him through suicidal thoughts on Christmas Eve.

The story behind the film

After a major studio failed to make the original short story into a movie, Frank Capra, an influential director, took on the project with his new production company Liberty Films. 

Capra and his leading actor, James Stewart, went through dark periods during production, echoing the darkness of the protagonist. 

Stewart had come back from serving in the Second World War. Capra was haunted by anxiety and fell out with the screenwriters.

The feud, crew turnover and Capra's insistence on high production value, including specifically designed fake snow, may be why the movie went massively over budget.

The impact

The film is now universally acclaimed: the American Film Institute named it among the 100 best US movies; it's among Steven Spielberg's all-time favourites; in polls, it always ranks highly among the UK's favourite festive films.

At first, it was more of a flop, however. 

Critics called out its "sentimentality". The film's proceeds undershot its unusually large production budget of more than $3m. 

Kimberley Sheehan, lead film programmer at the BFI Southbank, said it was overshadowed by The Best Years of Our Lives, a timelier movie about US servicemen coming home from the Second World War.

Liberty Films only managed to make one more movie before Capra sold it over its failure to recover costs for both. His career never recovered from the downturn: It's A Wonderful Life is deemed his last acclaimed film.

It really only became a Christmas movie when its copyright expired in the 1970s. 

"During this time, TV networks, eager for cheap holiday-themed films, began to play it during the holiday season," Sheehan says.

"The film had a revival and soon became a yearly tradition for many audiences." 

Why it's a Christmas classic

The movie "endured because its themes of community versus capitalism, and the fragility of mental health during the holidays have only deepened with age", Sheehan says. 

"It's a very human story, and it's a well-constructed film with lots of subtle setups in the first half, that pay off in the second half. It has a very sentimental and uplifting ending, but it earns it. That and Jimmy Stewart is simply one of the greatest performers of all time!"

A lush Christmas tree is the centrepiece of every holiday season. 

While shopping for one is a staple for many, nine-year-old Ryan Brook started farming trees himself instead, attracting media attention across the country.

Then, Ryan wanted to save the money he made to pay for university. 

Sixteen years later, our live chief sub-editor Liam Trim caught up with him to see how his venture has gone...

Christmas miracles really do happen, then. At least, that's the case for one lucky punter in the US.

How lucky? Well, for the price of just one lottery ticket in Arkansas, one person now gets to choose how they'd like to receive their mega jackpot.

That's a jackpot of $1.8bn, by the way, making it the second-largest lottery win ever across the pond.

The winning numbers were drawn just before midnight, giving one player an unlikely (and we mean odds of one in 292.2 million) and early Christmas present.

Here's the only catch (and we use that word very loosely):

They have a choice of either a gradual payout of the full figure over 29 years - or an upfront lump sum of $834.9m before tax.

That's had some of us here talking about what we'd do if we were in their shoes - aside from not being in the office on Christmas Day.

What do you think? Stretch out the payment, or one big payday?

Let us know in the poll below...