nds76
12-25-2005, 5:36pm
The Queen praised the "quite remarkable" humanitarian efforts in the past year, as she used her Christmas address to remember the victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami, the London transit bombings and other tragedies.
Elizabeth called 2005 a "terrible year" in her annual speech, which was prerecorded at Buckingham Palace and broadcast in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth on Sunday.
"This Christmas, my thoughts are especially with those everywhere who are grieving the loss of loved ones during what for so many has been such a terrible year," Elizabeth said.
She noted that only a day after her Christmas speech in 2004, the earthquake and tsunami struck coastlines in Asia and Africa, killing at least 223,000 people and leaving several million others without homes.
The Queen recalled other natural disasters, including the hurricanes that devastated New Orleans and the Caribbean and the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed an estimated 87,000 people in Pakistan and India.
"This series of dreadful events has brought loss and suffering to so many people and their families and friends – not only in the countries directly affected, but here in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth," she said.
"As if these disasters were not bad enough, I have sometimes thought that humanity seemed to have turned on itself – with wars, civil disturbances and acts of brutal terrorism."
She mentioned the suicide bombings on the London transit system that killed 52 people and the four attackers in July, suicide attacks that have killed scores in Iraq, and bombings in Jordan and Indonesia.
But the Queen also offered a message of hope, praising humanitarian and emergency workers for their work in 2005 and saying the tragedies showed that people of all religions from around the world could unite to do good works.
"These natural and human tragedies provided the headline news; they also provoked a quite remarkable humanitarian response. It has been clear that in the course of this year, relief workers and financial support have come from members of every faith and from every corner of the world."
The Queen's message was to be rebroadcast on CBC Television in Canada at 11 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the Queen and her relatives attended the traditional Christmas church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, about 500 metres from the family's Sandringham estate in eastern England.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the church to catch a glimpse of the members of the Royal Family, including the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Prince Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; Princess Anne; Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
For the first time, they were joined at the service by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who married Prince Charles in April.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/12/25/queen-051225.html
Elizabeth called 2005 a "terrible year" in her annual speech, which was prerecorded at Buckingham Palace and broadcast in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth on Sunday.
"This Christmas, my thoughts are especially with those everywhere who are grieving the loss of loved ones during what for so many has been such a terrible year," Elizabeth said.
She noted that only a day after her Christmas speech in 2004, the earthquake and tsunami struck coastlines in Asia and Africa, killing at least 223,000 people and leaving several million others without homes.
The Queen recalled other natural disasters, including the hurricanes that devastated New Orleans and the Caribbean and the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed an estimated 87,000 people in Pakistan and India.
"This series of dreadful events has brought loss and suffering to so many people and their families and friends – not only in the countries directly affected, but here in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth," she said.
"As if these disasters were not bad enough, I have sometimes thought that humanity seemed to have turned on itself – with wars, civil disturbances and acts of brutal terrorism."
She mentioned the suicide bombings on the London transit system that killed 52 people and the four attackers in July, suicide attacks that have killed scores in Iraq, and bombings in Jordan and Indonesia.
But the Queen also offered a message of hope, praising humanitarian and emergency workers for their work in 2005 and saying the tragedies showed that people of all religions from around the world could unite to do good works.
"These natural and human tragedies provided the headline news; they also provoked a quite remarkable humanitarian response. It has been clear that in the course of this year, relief workers and financial support have come from members of every faith and from every corner of the world."
The Queen's message was to be rebroadcast on CBC Television in Canada at 11 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the Queen and her relatives attended the traditional Christmas church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, about 500 metres from the family's Sandringham estate in eastern England.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the church to catch a glimpse of the members of the Royal Family, including the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Prince Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry; Princess Anne; Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
For the first time, they were joined at the service by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who married Prince Charles in April.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/12/25/queen-051225.html