on annual christmas celebration on the sandringham estate today, alongside a mourning service at saint mary magdalene church in norfolk. but it's been a tough year for the family, with both the king and princess of wales undergoing cancer treatment. king charles is set to break with tradition later today, delivering his annual christmas message from a former hospital chapel. in other news today, hundreds of migrants are currently attempting to cross the english channel by small boat this christmas day morning. more than 100 have already arrived in dover harbour in the early hours of today. at least four more migrant boats are currently attempting to cross, with others expected over the coming hours. it comes after gb news exclusively revealed yesterday that thousands of migrants were massing along the northern coast of france, preparing to cross to the uk over the christmas period. elsewhere, a 39 year old man was shot dead by armed police on christmas eve. west mercia

police said officers were called by west midlands ambulance service to an address in worcestershire at around 2:00 yesterday afternoon, after concerns were raised for the safety of a man with a knife. the force said attempts were made over several hours to deal with the incident, but the man was shot at around 740 yesterday evening. and dozens of people have died after a passenger plane crashed, with 67 people on board in kazakhstan. that's according to local officials. the country's emergency ministry said there were 25 survivors. the plane was en route from the azerbaijani capital, baku, to grozny in russia. reports say it was diverted because of fog. there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board that aircraft. that's according to the transport ministry. and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more in an hour.

>> a very merry christmas to you. now, 2024 turned out to be a very turbulent year for the royal family. but despite the health battles, the king and queen, prince and princess of wales and the extended house of windsor have been flying the flag high for brand britain. i'm karen walker, gb news royal correspondent, and this is a royal year coming up. in a year plagued by health struggles. we'll have the latest on the king and the princess of wales's cancer journey, and why 2025 could be the year they come back fighting. fresh from the princess of wales's christmas carol service at westminster abbey, we'll hear from one volunteer, especially invited by the princess. and as police appear to give up on ever finding the masked burglars who broke into the windsor castle estate back in october, will ask a former head of royal protection if security is up to scratch. joining me throughout today's show is the editor at large at the mail on sunday,

charlotte griffiths. charlotte, welcome. happy christmas. happy christmas. so first of all, i mean, 2024 has been quite the year for the royal family, to put it mildly. what's been your highlights and lowlights.7 >> i think my highlight has been that video that kate released. i know some people thought it was a bit cheesy, and it was certainly highly untoward and not her usual style at all, but it was that moment when we all breathed a sigh of relief and we realised she's made it through. she's had enough energy to make a very complicated and detailed video about how well she was feeling. and finally, just as a royal correspondent as well, we could all just sort of relax and think, god, this poor woman isn't going to, you know, be ill for the rest of the year, thank goodness. >> it was a very cinematic video, and it showed very personal moments between her and her closest family. >> yeah, it was so intimate. i mean, it was great for people like us because we're desperate to see inside, you know, catherine and william's marriage. but some people were a bit sceptical, thinking they'd gone a bit too kind of meghan markle ish because it was quite kind of hollywood glossy

produced. but i thought it was lovely. it was really sweet. i loved that moment when charlotte sort of cringed because her parents were kissing, and i know my daughter does that as well. on the rare occasions like this, you know, it just it was like a real portrait of family life and just a reminder that they are a real family and very, very poignant because i think with the trolling that they got this yeanl the trolling that they got this year, i think it was a reminder to everyone that these aren't just kind of caricatures, you know, these are human beings. and if you're going to wildly speculate online about their health, you know, just remember that they're a real family. >> absolutely. in january, buckingham palace announced the king would be going into hospital for a procedure on an enlarged prostate. but it was post—operative tests that revealed the king had cancer. here's a recap. >> his majesty king charles the third has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. >> 2024 the year of royal health battles. in january, the king went into hospital for treatment on an enlarged prostate, which was benign. his majesty spent three nights at the london clinic before being discharged

for a private period of rest. king charles was widely praised for being so open about his condition. searches on the nhs websites for enlarged prostates skyrocketed, and it's understood the king was keen to share details of his diagnosis to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked. the following month, buckingham palace released an important statement explaining that king charles had been diagnosed with a form of cancer. >> my thoughts are with him and, you know, to go through something like cancer, but in the public eye is a pretty something. >> yeah. it's sad. you know, hopefully he can make recovery. >> it's a shame for the family more than anything. i think the family like you would do your own family. >> the king stepped back from pubuc >> the king stepped back from public duties but continued working through his government red boxes. as winter rolled into spring, a glimmer of hope. doctors gave him the green light to attend the traditional easter sunday service at saint george's chapelin sunday service at saint george's chapel in windsor. previously

advised to avoid large crowds, he greeted members of the public who had gathered. >> we're trying to diagnose cancers earlier and the more cancers. >> the king chose macmillan cancer centre in london for his first public engagement following his diagnosis. meeting fellow patients from then on, the king ramped up his public appearances. queen camilla and the king's doctors struggled to persuade him to slow down, as the king was still continuing his weekly cycle of treatment. he persevered with several pubuc he persevered with several public engagements, but adaptations were made to keep the king well enough. he travelled in a carriage rather than on horseback during his trooping the colour birthday parade in june. by the autumn, the king was allowed to travel thousands of miles for a tour of australia and attends the commonwealth heads of government meeting in samoa. charlotte griffiths still joins me. i mean, when buckingham palace announced that he was initially going into hospital for an enlarged prostate, for example, i think he got a lot of praise for being so open with his

health diagnoses. >> yeah, he was so open in a way his mother never was. we never really found out what kind of cancer he had. and i think that was quite wise, because what he was quite wise, because what he was trying to guard against is people predicting life expectancy. and of course, once you know what kind of cancer it is, people can start guessing. so but other than that, he shared in great detail, you know, that he had cancer and that he'd been in and out of hospital and what the next steps were. and his aides talked very openly about the fact he has weekly cancer treatment. and this is highly unusual. i mean, i'm sure the queen was very, very ill many times in her life, but we didn't really know about it, did we.7 till but we didn't really know about it, did we? till the end. and indeed boris johnson, many years, even after her death, said that she had bone cancer. but this was something that actually we in the royal fold sort of knew, but we just did not say. and it was never confirmed, which is actually why we couldn't say it. so it just goes to show in one generation the big difference between openness about their health. >> it absolutely does. but of course, i think some would say that by not disclosing exactly what form of cancer you've got, you do leave yourself open to

quite a bit of speculation. >> yes. he'd gone in and said he had an enlarged prostate. so i think people kind of tried to guess that it was something to do with that. but we just we simply never, never