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

A Christian pastor in the West Bank tells Paste BN he's "very grateful" for Pope Leo's Christmas message referencing Gaza, but he warns the enclave is still in desperate need of help.

"The situation in Gaza is catastrophic," is what reverend Dr Munther Isaac, a pastor at the Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Ramallah, in the West Bank, tells chief presenter Mark Austin.

He adds that he's "very grateful" that Pope Leo spoke about Gaza in his Christmas message (see our 10.28 post for his remarks). But he warns: "The catastrophe in Gaza is far from being over."

Watch him speaking here...

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

This one is the mother of all modern Christmas songs, but it took 40 years to get to No 1: Last Christmas by Wham!

First released 3 December 1984

What's it about
A very un-Christmassy Christmas break-up and the former lovers' reunion on Christmas one year later.

The story behind the song:
While it says Wham! on the tin, part of the folklore of Last Christmas is that George Michael was the driving force. 

In a recent documentary, friends revealed that Michael had a particular love for Christmas, as he could go out for carol singing in fancy dress without being recognised. 

He wrote Last Christmas at 21 in his childhood bedroom while bandmate Andrew Ridgeley was downstairs watching TV during a visit to Michael's parents. 

"When he came back down, such was his excitement, it was as if he had discovered gold," Ridgeley recounted. 

He later said Michael "felt undervalued as a songwriter and the best way to make a point was with No 1s" - a key motivation behind the Last Christmas album Make It Big.

The song was recorded half a year later, in August 1984. Michael locked himself in a studio that he covered in Christmas decorations and recorded all instruments by himself. 

The impact:

Last Christmas re-enters the Top 10 year after year around Christmas and was the eighth-best selling single ever in the UK. 

But, despite Michael's quest for No 1, his hit didn't reach the top spot until two years ago, after his death. 

In 1984, it was beaten by Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid - which Michael was also a part of.

Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year for many, but for some of Britain's prime ministers, it can be a difficult day of crisis.

From wars, to economic woes and health issues - there has been no shortage of challenges facing the occupant of 10 Downing Street over Christmases past.

A listener to our Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Phil, sent in a question for our latest episode, asking which prime minister in history had the worst Christmas Day.

We asked historian Dan Snow to comb back through the history books to find out.

From crying so much the King lends you a hanky, to accidentally flashing the US president and lying to parliament while "full of opiates and amphetamines", there have been some rough Christmases for former PMs.

Listen to the episode here, or read on below...

You can WhatsApp the podcast at 07934 200 444 or email electoraldysfunction@sky.uk.

And if you didn't know, you can also watch Beth, Harriet and Ruth on YouTube.

By Rhiannon Mills, royal correspondent

It's a rare time of the year when the King can speak without seeking any guidance or advice from the government, which is what makes his annual Christmas message particularly personal and an insight into what really matters to him.

While the King doesn't mention any specific examples of division in the UK or global conflicts, his message, with its heavy emphasis on community - and we're told the themes of "kindness, compassion and hope" - appears to be one with a strong social purpose, and hints at his desire to play his part in healing divisions between communities and different countries.

Listening to him, you can't help but feel there is an underlying nod to the protests we've seen in the UK on migration, the St George flag movement, conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.

The appearance of a choir from Ukraine is the only clear display of a conflict he wants to draw attention to.

Watch: King Charles's Christmas message in full

The late addition of pictures from the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, an example of the importance he puts on being connected to all parts of the Commonwealth and what matters to people right now.

It's the most outward, rather than inward-looking message - deliberately so we're told.

There is nothing personal in it. No mentions of his health, and certainly no nods to what has been a very difficult year for the royals.

His message about learning from the past, as we continue to face difficult times, undoubtedly has its own resonance when you consider the headlines around his brother this week and more widely during 2025.

But, as he also encourages us to take a break from our screens, it's the broader message he conveys and how it relates to us all, that he would rather we focus on as we head into 2026.

We've already seen them going to church earlier, but here's a bit more on how the Royal Family will spend their Christmas Day.

We know the King, the Queen and their guests will enjoy a turkey lunch before sitting down to watch King Charles's address (see our 15.02 post for more on that).

Then, the monarch has chosen Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha's new film Christmas Karma as the movie to be screened at Sandringham this Christmas.

The film is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

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

Next up, we bring you the story behind a quintessentially British movie inspired by a very American Tarantino smash hit: Love Actually.

First released 14 November 2003

What's it about

A star-studded cast acts out ten interconnected episodes of people finding and losing love in London and elsewhere around the holidays - including a cuckolded home-maker, a washed-up rock star and the UK prime minister.

The story behind the film

The film was the directing debut of Richard Curtis, the writer behind the Hugh Grant-powered British romcoms that conquered the world from the 1990s.

Originally, it had nothing to do with Christmas. Curtis started writing two separate scripts: one was the Love Actually storyline in which Colin Firth's writer falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; the other was the one in which Hugh Grant's prime minister falls for... well, one of his housekeepers. 

It was Quentin Tarantino's very un-Christmassy anthology-like film Pulp Fiction that prompted Curtis to interlink several such love stories. 

Christmas came in "halfway through the writing", Curtis said, because he's "always been very sort of emotional about Christmas".

The impact

Love Actually grossed six times more than it cost to make (some £180m), placing it among the highest-grossing Christmas movies ever. 

It added another chapter to the quintessentially British Curtis romcoms that made international audiences fall in love with the Cool Britannia of the Blair years.

But the morality rooted in the same era, including the lack of diversity, hasn't aged that well.

Kimberley Sheehan, lead film programmer at the BFI Southbank, notes the film was originally going to feature extra storylines with more diverse characters. 

An LGBT storyline was probably cut for time, she says, even if traces could still be found.

Not even those involved seem thrilled now: Curtis described his final arrangement of the different episodes as a "catastrophe" and regretted fat-shaming jokes and cutting the gay part.

Grant has bashed his famous dance scene at No 10 as "absolute hell". 

Why it's a Christmas classic

Sheehan says the stellar performance of the ensemble cast is "at the heart of the power of Love Actually".

"There is also an aspirational fantasy element to Love Actually which gives it strong appeal to international audiences. Although it’s deeply British, it presents a very shiny, cozy and glamorous London... There is drama in the storylines, but it is around relationship troubles and grief and the film shows love conquering all. 

Part of the film's fun is the unrealistic rules of its universe... Whether you enjoy these plot solutions or enjoy poking fun at them, they are iconic and distinctively Love Actually.

We've seen (and heard from) the Royal Family today, but sticking to the theme, here's a bit more from the family's earlier church visit.

Hundreds gathered in the cold to catch a glimpse of the royals as they walked to and from a church a short stroll from Sandringham House.

The Princess of Wales chatted to dozens of well-wishers for almost 20 minutes, as her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, also received gifts.

Charlotte gave Gemma Clark, 45, and her father Paul Clark, 75, a hug when the fans asked for the embrace.

Gemma, from Long Sutton, near King's Lynn, is a regular at the event and brought Charlotte a bookmark and a ballerina brooch as presents.

She said:

"I asked Charlotte for a hug and she said yes, it was absolutely amazing, I loved it - I wish I could hug her again. I wasn't surprised, she's given me hugs in the past."

Paul gave William a set of origami planes for his sons and said:

"William told me George would be able to name all those planes, they're historic ones like Spitfires and Hurricanes."

'You'd better brush your teeth'

Tom Hirst, 42, who lives in Norwich, was with his sister Victoria Holland, 43.

They chatted to William and Kate, and Tom said: "The children were fascinated with the chocolate selections they were given and William told them 'you'd better brush your teeth'. I think he was referring to after they've eaten the chocolates!"

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...