Cancer-hit UK King hails Doctors and Nurses in Christmas Speech

King Charles III thanked "selfless doctors and nurses" for supporting the royal family in his Christmas address, marking the end of a year during which he and Princess Catherine have battled cancer.

Speaking in a pre-recorded message from a former hospital chapel, the king paid tribute to medical staff, veterans and humanitarian workers, and touched upon topics ranging from global conflicts to the far-right riots in the UK this summer.

"He was deeply grateful too to all those who have offered them their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement," the king added.

The monarch's traditional Christmas message, the first in nearly two decades made outside a royal residence, was symbolically filmed in the ornate Fitzrovia Chapel in central London.