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By Hannah Furness
December 26, 2025 — 5.00am
London: The King hopes families can take part in a “digital detox” this Christmas to renew their souls, Buckingham Palace has said.
In his annual Christmas message, King Charles urged people to slow down the pace of modern life to “quieten our minds” and connect with family, friends and neighbours.
The King was referring to the negative effects of new technology in particular, his spokesman said, adding that he hoped Christmas could provide time for a “digital detox”.
He spoke of the qualities of forgiveness, respect and resilience during the television address, saying the Christian stories of “peace and reconciliation” were a “prayer for our times”.
This year’s speech had the theme of “pilgrimage”, with the King discussing “journeying forward into the future, while also journeying back to remember the past and learn from its lessons”.
“All the great faiths provide us with deep wells of hope; of resilience in the face of adversity; peace through forgiveness; simply getting to know our neighbours and by showing respect to one another, creating new friendships,” he said.
Princess Eugenie, centre rear, arrives with Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla to attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church.Credit: AP
“Indeed, as our world seems to spin ever faster, our journeying may pause to quieten our minds – in TS Eliot’s words, ‘At the still point of the turning world’ – and allow our souls to renew.
“In this, with the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that right triumphs over wrong. It seems to me that we need to cherish the values of compassion and reconciliation; the way our Lord lived and died,” he continued.
A spokesman for the King said the monarch had the effect of new technologies in mind.
“When His Majesty references that lovely phrase about the ‘still point in the turning world’ at a time when, as he puts it, it’s ‘spinning ever faster’, he has in mind the effect that new technologies can have on society and how they can impact both on community cohesion and on general well-being, especially for younger people,” they said.
King Charles III poses during the recording of his Christmas message in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey.Credit: Getty Images
“I think His Majesty hopes that – if nothing else – Christmas might afford a moment when people could experiment with something of a ‘digital detox’ to focus more on our friendships, our families and our faith for those who practice.
“In this way, the King hopes our minds may find greater peace, our souls can renew and our communities grow stronger,” the spokesman added.
The term digital detox commonly refers to a person switching off their mobile phones and devices or logging out of their social media accounts.
Earlier this year, the Princess of Wales also spoke about the importance of “human connection” in the face of on-screen distractions.
Britain’s King Charles III, right, leaves with Lena Tindall, from left, Princess Charlotte, Prince William, Mia Tindall, and Kate, the Princess of Wales after attending the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church.Credit: AP
This year’s Christmas broadcast included a carol expressing support for Ukraine. Carol of the Bells, based on a song by Mykola Leontovych, a Ukrainian composer, was performed by the Songs for Ukraine Chorus.
The message was filmed in Westminster Abbey’s Lady Chapel for the first time and featured a Christmas tree repurposed from the Princess of Wales’s carol service earlier this month.
The King did not mention his own health or family troubles, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were absent from all footage.
Footage played over the King’s words included video of Prince George at a Buckingham Palace tea party for veterans and during a visit to homelessness charity The Passage with the Prince of Wales.
King Charles was shown at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, where he visited survivors of the October terror attack, and a scene from Bondi Beach in the wake of a mass shooting at a Jewish festival was also included.
The broadcast also saw Queen Camilla in a red phone box with a group of children during a visit to Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Edinburgh clinking paper cups of gin at the Royal Cornwall Show and the Princess Royal visiting a military rehabilitation facility in Kyiv.
The King made reference to his recent visit to the Vatican and the major Second World War anniversaries celebrated in 2025.
The courage and sacrifice of that generation, he said, are “values which have shaped our country and the Commonwealth”.
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“As we hear of division – both at home and abroad – they are the values of which we must never lose sight,” the King added.
“This year, I have heard so many examples of this... These stories of the triumph of courage over adversity give me hope, from our venerable military veterans to selfless humanitarian workers in this century’s most dangerous conflict zones; to the ways in which individuals and communities display spontaneous bravery, instinctively placing themselves in harm’s way to defend others.”
As well as sharing the Christian message of Christmas, the King also spoke of different faiths and “how much we have in common”, including a “shared longing for peace and a deep respect for all life”.
The journeys completed by the wise men and shepherds for the birth of Jesus were “a pilgrimage with a purpose heralded by angels, that there should be peace on Earth”, he continued.
“That prayer for peace and reconciliation – for ‘doing to others as we would have them do to us’ – which rang out over the fields near Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago still reverberates from there and around the world today.
“It is a prayer for our times and our communities too as we journey through our lives.”
The Telegraph, London
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