Why the Queen's Christmas speech is being postponed because of Brexit

The Queen's Christmas Day speech recording is reportedly being delayed by Brexit.

• The Queen (opens in new tab)'s Christmas Day speech recording has reportedly been delayed in light of Brexit deal talks.
• Her Majesty is said to have pushed back the filming of the speech because of uncertainty over the plan for leaving the EU.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes after it was revealed that the Queen has chosen a new 'Firm of Eight' but left out some key members of the royal family (opens in new tab).

Her Majesty usually films her annual festive speech in the middle of December, but has reportedly been forced to push it back this year because of on-going Brexit deal talks.

The Queen is said to have held back on recording her speech addressing the nation, which is aired on Christmas Day (opens in new tab) because of the uncertainty over whether the UK will be leaving the EU with a trade deal or not.

"Normally she films it in early December, certainly by the middle of the month, but this time it’s later than usual. There’s talk it could happen on Wednesday or Thursday," a source told The Sun.

“The country could be a very different place by then with us possibly leaving the EU without a deal.”

It's also been reported that the Queen is hoping to provide a feeling of "war-time spirit" to fill us with hope in her festive address, following the country's tough year of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic (opens in new tab).

"It will be a very, very important Christmas speech this year, very much along the lines of her earlier broadcast, the ‘we’ll meet again one’.

"Trying to raise morale and encourage people to get through it and evoke a bit of war-time spirit.

"So I’m sure the Christmas address will be along similar lines," royal expert Phil Dampier told Fabulous.

The Queen and Prince Philip have decided to spend Christmas Day at Windsor Castle, keeping things much quieter than their usual celebrations at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family.

In order to stick to the Christmas rules of meeting with just two other households, it's thought the Queen will miss out on seeing the likes of Prince William and Kate Middleton this year, with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle remaining in America for the festive period.