of her husband, prince philip. here s our royal correspondent nicolas witchell. the queen will be joined in windsor by six members of herfamily the prince of wales and duchess of cornwall, the earl and countess of wessex, and the duke and duchess of gloucester. there will be a morning service at st george s chapel inside windsor castle though this will not be attended by the queen. god save the queen plays. then, at three o clock, the queen s christmas message will be broadcast. it was recorded a few days ago at windsor with the opening music, the national anthem, played by the central band of the royal british legion in this, their centenary year. the broadcast itself will be a very personal one this year, according to buckingham palace. the queen is expected to speak for the first time in some detail about the loss of her husband, the duke of edinburgh, who died in april. as this still from the broadcast shows, the queen recorded it with a photograph of her and her husband at her
this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. i m martine croxall. our top stories. going further and deeper into space than ever before a revolutionary telescope is due to blast off shortly. this is the scene live. we ll hear from the launch pad. as well as the experts. volunteers staff vaccine centres in england as the race to fight the surging omricon variant doesn t stop for the holiday. in his christmas message, pope francis highlights the immense tragedies in yemen and syria which he says are being passed over in silence. and the queen is expected to give a very personal christmas message this year her first since the death of her husband prince philip.
but she was this year. she had her plans cancelled. she generally goes to her estate in norfolk but she did in not go this year due to abundance of caution, the spread of the omicron variant. so bit of concern there about the queen but all for now at least appears that man is now in custody and getting the help that he needs with the authorities. salma, you mentioned the queen. let s turn to the queen s christmas message. even more poignant this year. take us through what she said. reporter: the deeply personal message this year, kim. generally, the queen uses the christmas message as a way to kind of wrap up the year, talk about the events of the year. but this year was different. she lost her husband, of course, prince philip at the age of 99 in april this year. so, this was an extremely personal moment, in which she was able to share her grieving, her mourning, her suffering. take a listen. christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones. this year, especially, i unde
about 1030 this morning. 10:30am. the queen was not there, she attended a private service. we will not see her until 3pm. and it will be a much more personal message, reflecting on the loss of her husband earlier this year and really what a year it has been for a lot of people. as you said, the queen had is not the only person who has had to change things because of 0micron. indeed, she does have a busy year to look forward to, it is her platinum jubilee and hopefully coronavirus will not impede too much. yes. will not impede too much. yes, incredibly will not impede too much. yes, incredibly busy. will not impede too much. yes, incredibly busy. and will not impede too much. yes, incredibly busy. and fingers - will not impede too much. 1a: incredibly busy. and fingers cross coronavirus will be scaled back. 70 years on the throne that is what she is marking. seven decades she has been clean. lots of events. there s going to be an extra bank holiday, we think. there is also going