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Queen Elizabeth II makes her annual Christmas Day address to Britain and the Commonwealth Monday with the focus this year on the importance of relations between the young and older people.
The 80-year-old monarch's pre-recorded speech is broadcast at 1500 GMT and for the first time, will be available to download on the Internet via her website -- www.royal.gov.uk -- under the grand title "The Royal Podcast".
Exact details are being kept under wraps but aides said the theme showed "what old and young have to offer each other, how all faiths highlight the need to nurture and guide young people and to encourage respect for elderly people".
In brief extracts released to the media in advance, the queen will say: "The wisdom and experience of the great religions point to the need to nurture and guide the young and to encourage respect for the elderly."
Wearing a spring green outfit, the queen -- who has seven grandchildren by her four children -- is also seen talking to schoolchildren as she helps them make a collage of a Christian nativity scene.
The radio and television speech -- a tradition started by her grandfather king George V in 1932 -- was recorded this year at Southwark Cathedral on the south bank of the River Thames in London.
In recent years, Channel 4 television has broadcast an alternative Christmas message at the same time as the queen's speech.
This year sees a veiled Muslim woman delivering her views on race and religious identity in modern Britain -- both subjects that have been much debated throughout the year.
On Sunday, a separate Christmas message was broadcast from the queen to British troops serving at home and abroad, where she praised the courage and dedication of service men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As head of Britain's Armed Forces, she said the country was proud of their efforts and appreciated their sacrifices.
Before Monday's broadcast, the queen, her 85-year-old husband Prince Philip and other senior members of the royal family were to make their traditional Christmas Day outing to church on the Sandringham country estate in eastern England.
The only absentee was Prince Harry, Prince Charles' younger son and third in line to the throne. The 22-year-old soldier with the Blues and Royals regiment is on duty.
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AFP 250944 GMT 12 06
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