Reconciliation was the major theme of Queen Elizabeth II's traditional Christmas broadcast, which referenced the First World War, healthcare workers fighting Ebola and some of her travels this past year.
The Queen used her address to call for reconciliation throughout the U.K., and pointed to the "Christmas truce" of 1914 as an example to follow.
- Royal Family 2014: Four generations of royals in the news this year
- In pictures: Christmas Day with the Royal Family
"In 1914, many people thought the war would be over by Christmas, but sadly by then the trenches were dug and the future shape of the war in Europe was set," she said. "But, as we know, something remarkable did happen that Christmas, exactly a hundred years ago today. Without any instruction or command, the shooting stopped and German and British soldiers met in No Man’s Land. Photographs were taken and gifts exchanged. It was a Christmas truce."
From her travels and public events this year, the Queen noted the impressive Tower of London poppy display, which was installed this year for Remembrance Day. The installation featured more than 800,00 ceramic poppies to represent each British fatality in the First World War.
"The ceramic poppies at the Tower of London drew millions, and the only possible reaction to seeing them and walking among them was silence," she said.
Queen Elizabeth II makes an annual speech on Christmas Day, which since the radio era has been broadcast to Commonwealth countries. In recent years the video has been uploaded online and is a YouTube hit. The 88-year-old monarch made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952.
In this year's address, she said she witnessed the power of reconciliation firsthand when she visited a former prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the summer.
She said that while her tour of the "Game of Thrones" set may have garnered more media attention, she was much more taken by her visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol, a former Victorian-era prison which has recently been restored and re-opened to the public as a tourist attraction, concert venue and conference centre.
In the modern era, Crumlin Road held prisoners from the Irish Republican Army.
“What was once a prison during the Troubles is now a place of hope and fresh purpose; a reminder of what is possible when people reach out to one another,” she said.
The Scottish referendum was another example of the power reconciliation, she said, with some feeling "great disappointment" at the failed independence bid – while others felt "great relief."
"Bridging these differences will take time," she said.
Finally, the queen praised the health care workers who have gone to work on the frontlines of the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
"I have been deeply touched this year by the selflessness of aid workers and medical volunteers who have gone abroad to help victims of conflict or of diseases like Ebola, often at great personal risk," she said.
She ended her address by returning to the story of the "Christmas Truce," in which it is said that the German forces sang "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve in 1914.
"That carol is still much-loved today, a legacy of the Christmas truce, and a reminder to us all that even in the unlikeliest of places hope can still be found.
"A very happy Christmas to you all."
