Overview
- This year's theme is "love in all its forms," with the service designed to welcome people of all faiths and none.
- Readers include Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Babatunde Aléshé and Joe Locke with pianist Paul Gladstone Reid, alongside performances by Hannah Waddingham, Katie Melua, Dan Smith, Griff and Fisherman’s Friends with the Westminster Abbey choir.
- Prince William is set to give a reading, 1,600 guests will attend, and arrivals feature young musicians from the charity Future Talent with an additional performance by Platinum Performing Arts.
- New production touches include a live illustrator inside the Abbey, a natural festive installation by horticulturist Jamie Butterworth with trees from Form Plants, RHS and Simon Lycett wreaths, a "Connection Tree," refreshments, and candle recycling via the Church Candle Challenge in Prestbury.
- Fifteen Royal Foundation–supported community carol services will run across the UK involving nearly 6,000 people, and the Abbey service will air as Royal Carols on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve with a Christmas Day repeat, co-produced with BBC Studios Events.