Queen's message hails terror-hit London and Manchester

The Queen will pay tribute to London and Manchester in her Christmas Day broadcast for the way in which they dealt with this year's terror attacks.

Looking back over the events of 2017, the Queen says both cities' "powerful identities" had "shone through".

The Queen will also praise the Duke of Edinburgh for his support, in the year of their 70th wedding anniversary.

She will spend the day at Sandringham with the Royal Family, including Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle.

It will be the first time someone who is yet to marry into the Royal Family will have joined its Christmas celebrations.

The Queen was absent from last year's Christmas morning service at the estate in Norfolk because of a heavy cold.

Theme of home

The Queen recorded this year's Christmas message to the Commonwealth a few days ago in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace.

Its main theme is the importance of "home", which she describes as a place of "warmth, familiarity and love", with a "timeless simplicity" and "pull".

On a table, alongside photographs of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, are two pictures of her with the Duke of Edinburgh, one of which was taken on their wedding day in 1947 and the other from their anniversary in November this year.

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