Queen Elizabeth II used her Christmas message to pass the baton to the next generation, according to a royal expert.

Respect for others was central to the monarch鈥檚 2018 dispatch, which has been interpreted as a call for greater civility in the Brexit debate.

But the Queen also put emphasis on the continuity of the monarchy, 麻豆影视 royal commentator Richard Berthelsen said.

鈥淪he has woven in a very clear statement about the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and she鈥檚 moving in this message to pass the baton in a way to the next generation,鈥� Berthelsen told 麻豆影视 Channel from West Kelowna, B.C.

鈥淭here were a couple of clips of him and the Duchess of Cornwall in the message and she mentioned his 70th birthday and had a very carefully staged black and white photograph of him as a very young infant with her and the Duke of Edinburgh.鈥�

Queen Elizabeth mentioned other family members, showing clips of the weddings of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier this year and the arrival of new grandchild Prince Louis to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are expecting their first child in spring.

Berthelsen said media speculation around a rift between the two Duchesses was out of proportion to reality.

The two Duchesses deliberately walked together into Christmas Day service in Sandringham, Berthelsen said.

鈥淭hat is a very clear statement by them, it鈥檚 an answer back to the media hysteria that has been going on about that relationship,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he members of the royal family were very shoulder to shoulder about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.鈥�

The Queen gets quite nervous about her messages and works hard on them with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Berthelsen said.

The 97-year-old Duke did not attend the Christmas Day service in Sandringham.

In recent years a lot of attention has been paid to what鈥檚 in the background, the photographs on the Queen鈥檚 desk and the room that鈥檚 chosen at Buckingham Palace for her message, Berthelsen said.

鈥淭he Queen is very devout in her Christianity and she has felt in recent years that the message should take on a much more Christian tone to remind people of the nature of the holiday,鈥� he said.

The Queen鈥檚 grandfather George V began the tradition of the monarch鈥檚 Christmas message to the Commonwealth in the 1930s.