european union, as the formal separation is completed. there'll be changes to travel, trade, immigration and security co—operation. people are being warned to expect some disruption in the coming weeks as the new rules bed in. the uk's chief medical officers defend the plan to leave 12 weeks between coronavirus vaccine doses, after criticism from doctors. and bringing in the new year — from new york to scotland, cities and countries adjust their celebrations to fit their covid conditions. now on bbc news, wejoin daniela relph for a look

back on the key events of the year for the royal family — in review 2020: the royal year. a year like no other during her long reign. a masked monarch in covid times. this is a strange, frustrating and often distressing experience. an heir to the throne, locked down with coronavirus. a thank you from the cambridge family, who stepped up while others isolated. but for the sussexes, a step back, as they withdrew from royal duty. the queen's year started with the regular routine of royal engagements — a visit to mi5 headquarters in february, but everything was about to change. here she thanked staff

for keeping us safe, unaware that the biggest danger this year would be a health emergency that locked down the uk and changed the way the queen lived and worked. with lockdown imminent in march, she moved out of london. the queen came to windsor and spent the first lockdown behind the castle walls with members of the royal household. the duke of edinburgh joined her, and from here, she worked as a monarch in isolation, but that didn't mean she was out of sight. indeed, her contributions to the national mood were seen as significant and meaningful. none moreso than her address to the country during the first weeks of lockdown back in april. i'm speaking to you at what i know is an increasingly challenging time. it was a deeply personal message from the longest—serving head of state in the world, during an exceptional moment in her reign. together we are tackling this

disease and i want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it. i hope, in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. and those who come after us will say the britons of this generation were as strong as any. that the attributes of self—discipline, of quiet good—humoured resolve and a fellow feeling still characterise this country. the pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and ourfuture. it included praise for the sacrifices being made and ended with cautious optimism. we should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. we will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again,

we will meet again. but for now, i send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all. for public duties, it meant the queen had now gone digital and engagements were now mostly online. this one with princess anne to thanked carers. this one with princess anne to thank carers. i'm very glad to have been able to join you today. i think we all recognise that we know carers somewhere and maybe we have stopped and wondered how on earth we can help. and her online meetings with the military brought a few surprises. so i'm the pilot for the jamaican bobsleigh team. gosh! sounds a very dangerous job. it can be quite dangerous. so how do you train? i've been pushing a car up and down the street, i've had to make a gym. laughs. i suppose that's one way to train. that's definitely one way to train, ma'am.

there were some engagements, though, that did happen in person, albeit at a social distance. on a perfect summer's day injuly, within the grounds of windsor castle, the queen knighted captain sir tom moore. a special honour for his remarkable fundraising efforts during lockdown, it was the queen's first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public since march. to meet the queen was more than anyone could expect. never, never, ever did i imagine that i should get so close to the queen and have such a kind message from her, that was really outstanding. the lockdown did mean we were occasionally shown some more personal images of the queen's family life. this, the first photo we saw of her during her isolation at windsor. at 94, still riding in the castle grounds. with her there was the duke of edinburgh, this image marked his 99th birthday in june. and then, a family wedding,

smaller and more distant than the usual grand royal affairs. princess beatrice got married in july. the wedding dress was leant to her on the queen's archive of dresses and altered to fit her granddaughter. and from a new marriage to one that has endured over decades — a 73rd wedding anniversary for the queen and the duke in november, including a card from their great grandchildren, princes george, louis and princess charlotte. for the prince of wales, the run—up to lockdown had been busy. here in newquay on the sixth of march, he was still shaking hands. a few days later in london, the protocol had changed, but it was sometimes hard to remember for someone who's to remember for someone whose life is a constant round of meeting people. good afternoon, your royal highness. i'm sorry! in his 70s, his covid risk was high. and on the 25th of march, clarence house announced that the prince had tested positive and was isolating at birkhall, his home on the balmoral estate in

scotland. his symptoms were mild and a few days later, he shared his thoughts via a video message. as we're all learning, this strange, frustrating and often distressing experience — when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible, and the normal structures of life are suddenly removed. at such an unprecedented and anxious time in all our lives, my wife and i are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their loved ones in such very difficult and abnormal circumstances, and of those having to endure sickness, isolation and loneliness. byjune, some in—person engagements had resumed. this one at the gloucestershire royal hospital had the look of a military parade, with staff and royals keeping their distance. it allowed the prince and the duchess of cornwall to show their gratitude. just to have a chance of seeing people who i know have been

doing so much literally on the front line and having to endure an awful lot of stress and strain, i think, in that wonderful way. how they do it, i don't know, but delivering everything in the most effective way. before the global pandemic took hold, there was a family crisis to deal with. the duke and duchess of sussex returned to public life in london injanuary after several weeks living in canada. while away, there had been some soul—searching. the life they seemed to be building in the uk was about to be set aside. harry and meghan had chosen windsor as their home. they made the break from living and working alongside the duke and duchess of cambridge in london. everyone presumed they'd base themselves here and carve out a public role together. but they were clearly unhappy and wanted something different. and that was a life away from royal duty. going it alone, the duke and duchess of sussex announced

they're stepping back as senior royals. even the queen wasn't told before they broke the news tonight. there was clear unhappiness and issues to resolve. on monday the 13th of january, just under a week later, the queen led a meeting at her sandringham estate in norfolk, with prince charles, prince william and prince harry. at five o'clock that day, came news confirming the departure of harry and meghan from royal duties, with the queen accepting their desire for more independence. let's go straight to sandringham, talk to our royal correspondent daniela relph who has some latest developments for us. daniela? yes, hugh, we'vejust had a statement released on behalf of her majesty, the queen, from buckingham palace. the details were laid out in the following days. there would now be no public funding for harry and meghan. they got to keep their titles but agreed not to use ‘his or her royal highness‘ as they were no longer full—time working royals.

they would continue to uphold the values of the queen and this would all be reviewed after a i2—month trial period. with the change now confirmed, harry chose a private dinner for his sentebale charity to speak publicly for the first time about his decision. i want you to hear the truth from me, as much as i can share, not as a prince or a duke, but as harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the last 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective. the uk is my home and a place that i love. that will never change. i've grown up feeling supported from so many of you and i watched as you welcomed meghan with open arms, as you saw me find the love and happiness that i had hoped for all my life. speaking personally, he explained exactly how he felt. what i want to make clear is, we're not walking away,

and we certainly aren't walking away from you. our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. unfortunately, that wasn't possible. i've accepted this, knowing that it doesn't change who i am or how committed i am, but i hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that i would step my family back from all i have ever known, to take a step forward into what i hope can be a more peaceful life. cheering and applause. before their departure, there were a few last royal engagements to undertake. some together, others individually. to mark international women's day, meghan visited a school in east london where she sent a message to men. so ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand for what is right, to continue to respect each other,

for your young men, to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives, and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that the same way, right? you have your mother, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life, protect them, make sure that they are feeling valued and safe. applause. the response to the speech came with a little bit of teenage cheek. applause. she really is beautiful, innit? cheering and applause. and then, the final farewell. at westminster abbey for commonwealth day in march, it was formal, traditional, led by the queen. all the things they were leaving behind. they sat close to the duke and duchess of cambridge but there was barely any communication between this once

close family unit. these had been a difficult few weeks for everyone. and perhaps it showed. as harry and meghan left the abbey, did they feel regret or relief? they were about to embark on a new life for themselves, away from the constraints of royal duty. coming up, the cambridges lead the way in lockdown engagements, and more on harry and meghan‘s new life in america. for the cambridges, lockdown allowed for some valuable family time. and like so many around the country, they were all enthusiastic participants in the thursday clap for the nhs. and like so many families, this year has presented many challenges. the cambridge family split lockdown between their home in norfolk and here at kensington palace. despite the restrictions, we have seen a lot of them. with the queen in her 90s

and the prince of wales in his 70s, it was the cambridges in their 30s who often stepped up. but first, the duke of cambridge recovered from his own bout of covid. he didn't reveal details at the time but it's believed he tested positive in april and self isolated. honestly, to you and everyone... in those early weeks of lockdown, their royal engagements went online and they focused on thanking key workers. laughs. we should've had our bunny ears on! that's a strong look. these pupils at school in lancashire were the children of frontline workers. i'm catherine and this is william next to me. and are you holding up pictures of your mummies and daddies? yes. this is a picture of my mum and she works for the nhs as an admin for the health service and i'm really proud of her. and in the couple's first interview during lockdown, they again spoke

of their gratitude. the nhs workers, frontline workers, are used to dealing, sadly, with very sad situations, death, and things like that, but i think the scale and the speed of what's going on in hospitals — bearing in mind also the isolation — a lot of these patients are sadly dying with no family around them. i think for the nhs frontline workers, that is very difficult because they are there right next to the bedsides, looking after and caring for each and every patient who's in a critical condition, and i think they take away that pain and sometimes that fear and that loneliness that these patients have to go through, they're the ones who absorb that and they take it home to their families. i think it's going to dramatically change how we all value and see our frontline workers and i think that is one of the main positives, i suppose, you can take from this. they do an extraordinaryjob, it goes unrecognised daily and now i think all of us as a nation can really see how hard they work and how vital they work is. vital the work is. catherine's going to pick

out the first ball. 0k. there were lighter moments, too. some royal bingo callers for the residents of shire hall care home in cardiff. one little duck, number two. eight and seven, 87. six and two, tickety— boo. yay! you won the bingo. hello, jo! and a few weeks later, william and catherine visited the care home in person. when asked if their bingo calling was any good, the answer from resident joan was direct and un—broadcastable. but you said we didn't do a very good job? laughter. no, you did a bloody bleepjob. raucous laughter excellent. speaking truth to royalty wasn't a problem here. wearing masks but back to royal engagements, the cambridges resumed a more familiar routine as the first lockdown eased, here at a mosque in east london. and just around the corner came

a visit to one of brick lane's famous bagel shops. it was a chance to get stuck in. do they like brussels sprouts, too? catherine and william have also focused on their own interests this year. for the duchess, that is supporting families caring for the under—fives. thank you, very much. a survey she launched looking at the early years experience generated more than half a million responses and her royal duties will be built around this area. the pandemic has reminded us just how much we value living in a world where people care for one another. and the importance of feeling connected to the people around us. and it's these connections, these relationships, that are founded in our earliest years of our lives. a photographic collection of our lockdown experience was an initiative also launched by the duchess, supported by the national portrait gallery, the hold still exhibition was both

moving, funny and sad. the duke of cambridge, prince william, welcome to that peter crouch podcast. thank you. the royal appearance on the bbc podcast with former footballer peter crouch brought some lockdown laughs. recorded at kensington palace before restrictions were brought in, with a pint on the table, william was as relaxed as we've see him. the talk was of stag dos, football and improving men's mental health. guys find it a bit more difficult to relax. we talk about physical fitness, we all want to go to the gym, stay fit, we never really talk about mental fitness, and it's kind of the same thing — that we all have mental health, we all need to stay mentally fit. and to round it off, of course, there was even a takeaway curry. can you hear all the ducks, the geese, the birds, all the way along our coastline here. but his work on the environment was a big project of the year for william. he launched the earthshot prize, alongside sir david attenborough, looking for solutions to the world's biggest environmental challenges. the earthshot prize is the most prestigious global environmental prize there's ever been. it's a hugely ambitious target,

but i do think that positivity and that finding ways through this is better than saying, "it's all doom and gloom, we're all going to perish." i think we've got to harness our ingenuity and our ability to invent some of this out. and for prince george, princess charlotte and prince louis, it was a chance to meet sir david and give him a bit of a grilling. hello, david attenborough. what animal do you think will become extinct next? well, let's hope there won't be any! because there are lots of things we can do when animals are reduced to in danger of extinction. we can protect them. hello, david attenborough. i like spiders, do you like spiders, too? i love spiders! i'm so glad you like them. i think they're wonderful things. why is it that people are so frightened of them? what animal do you like? i think i like monkeys best. 'cause they're such fun.

and there has been another public outing for the cambridge children. in a year that has devastated theatre and the arts, mum and dad took george, charlotte and louis to panto at the london palladium. a slightly tentative red carpet experience for some, but one that allowed the family to show their support for the industry and the frontline workers whojoined them in the audience. for the duchess of cornwall, royal duties this year included watching the work of detection dogs at their training centre in milton keynes. trials are under way to determine whether these dogs could identify people carrying the covid—i9 virus. this is bbc 5 live! and camilla stepped into the radio editor's chair for the emma barnett show on the bbc‘s five live. well, it's very nice to have you here. clarence house became a radio studio for the day. the focus was on the causes that mattered to her, including domestic violence

and the dangers lockdown pose to victims of abuse. you're there, you can't get out, you've probably got children there — that's the worst thing — you feel you can't leave because you must take the children. you've probably got a telephone, but you can't get to it, because probably the abuser is there. i mean, where do you go? she also spoke of herjoy of being reunited with her grandchildren and how her husband's fitness help him beat covid. and it was the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall who led the country through remembrance in may, marking 75 years since ve day. at ”am they led national tributes at the balmoral war memorial in scotland. this was the start of a unique year of remembrance, with all major events cancelled, something recognised by the queen in her ve day address. instead, we rememberfrom our homes and our doorsteps, but our streets are not empty,

they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other. and when i look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, i say with pride that we are still a nation with those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen, who we recognise and admire. in august, the vj day commemorations were centred on the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. carefully choreographed for the veterans who served with this sometimes—forgotten army in a brutal campaign. thousands lost their lives in the jungles of south—east asia and japanese prisoner—of—war camps. it was the prince of wales who spoke of their courage. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here, or in their homes, wherever they may be, let us affirm

that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked and cherished with all our hearts, and for all time. and in november, remembrance sunday, too, had a distinctly different feel. in whitehall, the veterans were few, the masked bands socially distanced, and the streets empty of the public who come to pay their respects. at 11 o'clock, the queen took her place on the balcony and watched as the prince of wales and other senior members of the royal family stood at the cenotaph for the two minutes' silence.

big ben tolls. wreaths were then laid, including one on behalf of the queen. for the march—past there were just 25 veterans. but despite limitations, remembrance in 2020, a year in which there has been so much loss and personal sacrifice, felt just as poignant. away from royal duties, the duke and duchess of sussex are now building their life in california with a new home and lucrative netflix deal. during lockdown they've done work in their community and supported organisations hit hard by covid. on a personal level during this

time, meghan also revealed she'd had a miscarriage — an experience she described as an "unbearable" grief. listen, did you hear that? i heard duck sounds — "quack, quack." in the coming year, they'll launch a new charity foundation named after their son, archie, he had his first birthday this year, and it gave us a rare glimpse of him. part of the conversation we have had quite a bit in our calls over the last few weeks surrounding the black lives matter movement... the lockdown months have seen the couple take part in a number of online discussions around issues of race, equal rights and social justice. this one with young leaders from the queen's commonwealth trust, where harry and meghan retained their roles as president and vice—president. in a us election year, they both campaigned to get people to vote — something meghan discussed with a feminist activist, gloria steinem. people forget how hard women like you and so many others before you fought for us to just be where we are right now. well, that'sjust, i mean, when you — if you don't vote, you don't exist. we'll see and hear more of

harry and meghan going forward. in the next few months, we'll learn if their move away from royal duty is made permanent, a decision ultimately for the queen. and like all of us, the royal family hopes for a better 202i. carefully managed and socially—distanced is what this was, a rare sight this year — the royal family altogether at windsor castle. the queen at its heart, with no prince andrew, no prince harry. this is the royalfamily as we are likely to see it in the years ahead. hello. it was an especially cold start to the brand—new year across parts of south—west england.

temperatures across wiltshire, dorset and hampshire as low as —6, —7 degrees earlier on. —3 across parts of southern scotland. could be a cold night for you tonight. notice kirkwall, 5 degrees. same sort of temperature across some eastern parts of northern england, too. even though we've had the northerly wind, slightly less cold air has been drifting down with it. the air will get colder as we go to the day. more in the way of sleet and snow, mainly over the hills in scotland later. it's rain showers and a bit of sleet mixed in across england and wales. plenty of cloud, brightening up to north—west england later on. in fact scotland, northern ireland, compared with yesterday, a much sunnier day. with the grey conditions dominating across england and wales, where the mist and fog were this morning and grey clouds linger, temperatures may struggle to get above freezing for one or two. it will be a damp evening and night across southern and south—eastern parts of the uk. a few showers for eastern scotland. showers return to northern ireland as well. and still some sleet and snow in the north of scotland. temperatures, well, widely below freezing. could be some ice around. temperatures at their lowest in southern scotland into saturday morning.

this is the setup for saturday. around high pressure, the wind flows clockwise. so, with high pressure to the west, low pressure to the south and east, it is a northerly flow with us still. that continues to bring showers in northern scotland. a few more to northern ireland. showers mainly wintry across scotland. but we could see sleet and snow mixed with the showers, in eastern counties of england through the day, particularly over the hills. showers also return to the far west of wales and across cornwall. but for many of you, over most of you on saturday, it will be a dry, bright and crisp day. temperatures 2—5 celsius at best. so, a chilly one out there. as we go through saturday night into sunday, a high pressure shifts to the north of us. low pressure so to the south and east. an increasingly easterly airflow will develop. that means showers that start on eastern coasts will drift a little further westwards. it could turn to sleet and snow over high ground. we lose the early showers in wales and south—west england. many western areas finish the day on sunday staying dry and sunny. temperatures up a degree or so on saturday's values. once the easterly wind sets in, it will be with us into much of next week.

quite windy conditions at times for england and wales. that will make it feel cold. there are little areas of less cold air around that. a lot of what falls from the sky in the form of showers will be offering, but it could turn to sleet and snow at times, particularly over the hills. the main story, look at the temperatures, it stays on the cold side.

this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. a new era in the uk's relationship with the european union, as the formal separation is completed. there'll be changes to travel, trade, immigration and security co—operation. people are being warned to expect some disruption in the coming weeks as the new rules bed in. the uk's chief medical officers defend the plan to leave 12 weeks between coronavirus vaccine doses, after criticism from doctors. and bringing in the new year — from london to new york, cities and countries