King Charles III attends Christmas service at Sandringham

Britain's King Charles III and close members of the royal family attended Christmas Day services at a church on Sandringham, the estate on the windswept North Sea coast that has served as a retreat for the royals for generations. His brother Prince Andrew, however, was notably absent.

The king, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, waved to a large crowd of onlookers as he walked alongside his wife, Queen Camilla. They were joined by Prince William, Prince of Wales, and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, the king's daughter-in-law, who has been slowly returning to public duties after her own cancer diagnosis and a course of chemotherapy.

This is the king's third Christmas speech since he ascended the throne after his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died in September 2022. It is the first since he was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February.

The year has been a traumatic one for the royals after Buckingham Palace revealed in February the 76-year-old, who became king in 2022, had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate.

"All of us go through some form of suffering at some stage in our life, be it mental or physical," Charles said.

"On this Christmas Day, we cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflict in the Middle East, in central Europe, in Africa and elsewhere, pose a daily threat to so many people's lives and livelihoods," he said.

"I am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement," he said in the pre-recorded broadcast which was filmed at an ornate chapel of a former London hospital.

"I am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement."

Last week, a palace source said the king's treatment was progressing well and would continue into next year.