Royal Watch News

Queen Elizabeth to hail London 2012 heroes in speech

Dec 24, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth will hail Britain's 'splendid summer of sport' in her Christmas speech tomorrow (25.12.12).

The 86-year-old monarch is to pay tribute to the nation's Olympic and Paralympic athletes, who took part in London 2012, in her traditional festive broadcast which will be shown in 3D for the first time ever.

During the address - which has been pre-recorded and will be broadcast in full tomorrow - she will say: 'As London hosted a splendid summer of sport, all those who saw the achievement and courage at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were further inspired by the skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes.

'In pursuing their own sporting goals, they gave the rest of us the opportunity to share something of the excitement and drama.'

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said the speech will focus on 'service, achievement and the spirit of togetherness'.

Behind-the-scenes footage of the broadcast has been released and shows the monarch sporting some crystal-studded 3D glasses and meeting staff from Sky News, which produced the message.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said Elizabeth thinks this year's speech is 'absolutely lovely'.

The spokeswoman added: 'We wanted to do something a bit different and special in this Jubilee year, so doing it for the first time in 3D seemed a good thing, technology-wise, to do.'

Viewers will require either special glasses or a 3D-enabled television set to watch the three-dimensional festive address, which was recorded on December 7.

The queen was part of the Olympics herself when she starred alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig in a pre-recorded spoof, which saw the pair appear to parachute out of a helicopter into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, during the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth missed a church service at Sandringham yesterday (23.12.12) due to a cold, but she is expected to attend on Christmas Day (25.12.12).