--- description: Queen Elizabeth's annual Christmas message aired on Dec. 25, in which she praised "unsung heroes." Watch and read the full address here title: Watch Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Day Address for 2016 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt047f6d2aea7f049a/6988b3f3fb4eac6d92890447/queen-elizabeth.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [U.K.](/tag/u-k/) ## U.K. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Queen Elizabeth's 2016 Christmas Day Address Celebrating 'Unsung Heroes' by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2016 4:29 PM CUT  Queen Elizabeth II may have delayed plans to travel to Norfolk today for the start of her Christmas break on Dec. 21, 2016. Queen Elizabeth II may have delayed plans to travel to Norfolk today for the start of her Christmas break on Dec. 21, 2016.Stuart C. Wilson—AP by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 25, 2016 4:29 PM CUT Although a [heavy cold prevented Queen Elizabeth](http://time.com/4617789/queen-elizabeth-christmas-service-heavy-cold/?xid=homepage "undefined") from attending the [Christmas](http://time.com/4617782/pope-francis-christmas-peace-2016/ "undefined") morning church service in Norfolk, England, her annual Christmas message aired on Dec. 25. Reflecting on the past year, [Queen Elizabeth](http://time.com/4607728/queen-elizabeth-duties-work/ "undefined") touched on the many ways she was inspired, including by the athletes at the 2016 Olympics and the “unsung heroes” of various charity organizations. “But even with the inspiration of others, it’s understandable that we sometimes think the world’s problems are so big that we can do little to help,” she said. “On our own, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.” Read the Queen’s [remarks in full](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/25/the-queens-speech-christmas-day-full-transcript-elizabeth "undefined") below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4617820/queen-elizabeth-christmas-day-address/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4617820/queen-elizabeth-christmas-day-address/"},"headline":"Watch Queen Elizabeth's 2016 Christmas Day Address Celebrating 'Unsung Heroes'","datePublished":"2016-12-25T16:29:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:27:57.259Z","description":"\"To be inspirational you don’t have to save lives or win medals\"","url":"https://time.com/4617820/queen-elizabeth-christmas-day-address/","keywords":["U.K.","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt047f6d2aea7f049a/6988b3f3fb4eac6d92890447/queen-elizabeth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt047f6d2aea7f049a/6988b3f3fb4eac6d92890447/queen-elizabeth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Royal Christmas 2016","caption":"Royal Christmas 2016","creditText":"Stuart C. Wilson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/u-k/","name":"U.K."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4617820/queen-elizabeth-christmas-day-address/","name":"Watch Queen Elizabeth's 2016 Christmas Day Address Celebrating 'Unsung Heroes'"}}]}] ```