King Charles salutes late Queen Elizabeth II in his first Christmas speech

• The king honored Elizabeth's legacy throughout the speech, and said he shared with her “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others and to shine a light in the world around them.”

What he's saying: “Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones," said the king, 74, during an address at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. "We feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”

• "I am standing here in this exquisite chapel of St. George at Windsor Castle, so close to where my beloved mother, the late queen, is laid to rest with my dear father," he said Sunday in the church's quire, where his mother gave the same speech in 1999.

"I am reminded of the deeply touching letters, cards and messages which so many of you have sent my wife and myself and I cannot thank you enough for the love and sympathy you have shown our whole family."

The intrigue: It was the first Christmas message not delivered by the Queen since 1957.

• In her final Christmas speech last year, Queen Elizabeth II spoke of “passing the baton” to the next generation.