The Christmas message comes at the end of a year in which the King faced a cancer diagnosis.

Days before Christmas, Republicans in Congress tried to ram through a spending bill that strips childhood cancer research from the federal budget.

The charity was formed in 2013 in memory of the cricketer David Randall, who died from cancer at the age of 27.

Ian Rankin has always enjoyed building small model boats but, after a cancer diagnosis, the 82-year-old set himself a new challenge.

It marked the end of what has been a difficult year for her and her family with both Catherine and King Charles undergoing cancer treatment.