The Royal Family — including Queen Elizabeth II, Princes Charles, William, Harry and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall — were on hand to attend Xmas day services at Sandringham Church in the UK yesterday after Her Majesty delivered her annual Xmas Day address to the United Kingdom earlier in the day. Calling this Xmas a “somber” one, Queen Elizabeth talked at length about the year that was and the challenges to come in 2009. Here are a few pics of the Royals as they arrived for church services yesterday and a portion of her Xmas Day address delivered via radio, TV and Interweb:

Worries about the global economy and violence across the world have turned the celebration of Christmas into a more somber affair this year, Queen Elizabeth said on Thursday. Britain, like many other developed nations, is facing the risk of a prolonged recession. Unemployment is rising fast, household high street firms are collapsing and several big banks are only able to stay in business with government help. There has also been an increase in the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan in recent weeks, just as troops in Iraq prepare to come home next year. “Christmas is a time for celebration, but this year it is a more somber occasion for many,” the Queen said. “People are touched by events which have their roots far across the world. Whether it is the global economy or violence in a distant land, the effects can be keenly felt at home.” But, in her annual Christmas broadcast which dates back to 1957 and is watched by millions across Britain and the Commonwealth, the 82-year-old said those with courage would work hard to survive and improve their lot. “When life seems hard the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future,” she said, standing by a piano adorned with pictures of her family. This year has been eventful for the royal family, with Prince Harry — third in line to the throne — fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for 10 weeks, an inquest into the death of Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ 60th birthday. The Queen paid tribute to Britain’s armed forces but also singled out for praise her eldest son and heir, Charles, accompanied by previously unseen footage of the prince playing with his mother as a small child. “We feel great pride in seeing our family make their own unique contributions to society,” she said. “Through his charities, the Prince of Wales has worked to support young people and other causes for the benefit of the wider community.”

While it may not want to be the message that folks want to hear on an occasion like Xmas, I think it was prudent for the Queen to address the issues of the day in the manner in which she did. The prospects are gloomy for everyone in the world, none of us are untouched by the degrading state of the economy, and violence still threatens us at almost every turn. Queen Elizabeth has a way of delivering this sort of serious message with a resoluteness that instills confidence in people. After the jump, watch her Xmas Address in full for yourselves …

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Prince, who recently debuted a few new songs on LA’s Indie 103.1 radio station (and teased that a new album of material is on the way, showed up at the Staples Center to cheer on the LA Lakers against the Boston Celtics in downtown LA last night (the Lakers ended up beating the Celtics by a score of 92-83). Prince showed up at the game with a mysterious new woman who may be a new romantic interest of his … especially considering that she looks a lot like his most recent previous romantic interests:

Damn, Prince never stays single for long …does he? He divorced his wife last year and then found new companionship with his backup dancers The Twinz and, apparently, has found this latest new friend to keep him company. I’ve yet to hear these new songs that were premiered and then disappeared … but I’m sure it won’t be long before the tunes make their way to the masses.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Clay Aiken, who made headlines earlier this year after he fathered a child he named Parker with is friend Jaymes Foster and then came out of the closet as a gay man, was honored by the famed NYC eatery Sardi’s with his own caricature that will be hung on the restaurant walls with the other famed caricatures of Broadway stars from days of yore. Here are a couple pics of Clay proudly showing off his Sardi’s caricature in NYC earlier this week:

“American Idol” finalist Clay Aiken, who currently portrays Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot, was honored Dec. 23 with a caricature that now adorns the walls of the famed eatery Sardi’s. As a recording artist, Aiken has sold six million albums. His latest, “On My Way Here,” was released last spring. He co-authored the best selling book “Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life” and has played six sold-out concert tours since rising to fame on the second season of “American Idol” in 2003. Aiken made his Broadway debut in Spamalot in a Jan. 18-May 4 limited engagement. He returned to the show Sept. 19 and will remain in the role through Jan. 4, 2009. Spamalot, which will end its Broadway run Jan. 11, 2009, plays the Shubert Theatre at 225 West 44th Street.

Honestly, it is quite an honor to be honored with a caricature that will hang at Sardi’s … not quite sure that Clay Aiken’s Broadway talents are really worthy of such an honor (IMHO) but it’s very nice that he got one nonetheless. After the jump, check out a larger version of his Sardi’s caricature so that you can compare it with the real thing …

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Happy Boxing Day and First Day of Kwanzaa, y’all! I trust that all y’all had yourselves a merry little Xmas and/or Hanukkah (depending on your family affiliations) yesterday. I spent a lovely afternoon/evening/night/late night with Sarah and Mark at her aunt Gina’s house yesterday … which has turned into an annual tradition. We arrived right as the Xmas Caroling got underway and then spent the rest of our time eating and talking and playing games. It was a very nice Xmas celebration. Here is a shot of Gina and Greg’s massive Xmas tree:

Actually, this is only the top part of the tree … the dang thing was so big, I couldn’t fit it all in my cameraphone shot. We spent the final hours of Xmas (and the first hours of today) playing a tournament of pool, air hockey, darts and foosball … I’m happy to report that I kinda kicked ass at darts … everything else, notsomuch. We had a blast tho … Sarah’s family is really amazing and I always feel so honored to be included in their family celebrations. This evening I’m hanging out with my parents (who had plans with their friends yesterday, which I opted out of attending) and I may be hanging out with Erik and Jake, who is in town for the weekend. I haven’t seen Jake in eons, it would be nice to meet up with them. Tomorrow night is Sarah and Mark’s Epic Holiday soiree … I think we’re all mentally preparing ourselves for the fun to be had tomorrow :)

• A new court ruling jeopardizes the release of the long-awaited, much-anticipated Watchmen movie.
• Ticket sales plummet for the Broadway show Speed-the-Plow after Jeremy Piven pulls out due to illness.
• Before T.I. reports to prison, he’s gonna ring in the New Year with Chloe Sevigny.
• Valkyrie is apparently so bad that folks who promised to say good things about it couldn’t say good things about it.
• For Courteney Cox-Arquette, divorce is not an option.
• Madonna is very happy that soon-to-be ex-husband Guy Ritchie is moving on.
• Is Simon Cowell planning an exit from American Idol?
• Could another Batman movie franchise be on the way?
• Hugh Jackman reveals that his wife believes that Brad Pitt is the Sexiest Man Alive.
• Chris Daughtry is 29, Jared Leto is 37, David Sedaris is 52 and John Walsh (America’s Most Wanted) is 63 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Jamie Foxx won’t be letting his daughter date boys any time soon.
• Twilight is the #1 movie at the UK box office.

Contrary to reports of discord between the two of them, Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson appear to be back on solid track these days as the ladies were spied doing a bit of Xmas shopping together this week. Despite the fact that some are claiming that L. Ron are on the verge of break-up, it seems a completely different story when you see pics of the couple happily shopping together on Xmas Eve:

L. Ron spent part of their Xmas Eve day shopping at Diesel, Kid Robot and Rite Aid Pharmacy … prolly picking up last minute Xmas gifts and stocking stuffers but also most likey picking up supplies for the coming New Year’s Eve celebration:

Sam was carting around party hats in her Rite Aid basket … or mebbe they’re mixing bowls, it’s hard to tell. In either case, it appears that the ladies were happily bizzy gathering materials to spend the holidays together rather than apart. It makes me so happy to know that L. Ron are still going strong … and I hope that they will spend a happy 2009 and beyond in loving bliss together! They are deffo my fave new couple of 2008.

[Photo credit: X17]

Courtney Love, everyone’s favorite celebrity blogger, must’ve been feelin’ the Xmas spirit on Xmas Eve because she was inspired to craft a new blogpost on her official My Space profile that weaves a tale of alleged violence, homophobia and her trademark ridiculous and meandering banter that really hearkened the hallowed reason for the season. Here is the full text of C. Love’s latest blogpost … as always, all language and spelling/grammatical errors are her own:

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

update: this date this incident took place 2:20 am September 14, 2008 after.. Hyde Lounge closed early Sunday morning , my employee who got punched by rob and yes we have witnesses who can and will identify him, Brody was fine, he was actually quite nice to my employee and posed for pictures with his new girlfriend outside Hyde Lounge that my employee took.
My employee has on record a email to my manager about the incident right after the incident, photos of his broken nose which took 2 months to heal, he is better now just so you guys now and thanks for all the support. I did not find out about this til recently because he ( my employee) knows I don’t take fucking shit and I will go to my blogs if i have to make my point, however he went to LAPD and they were really rude to him..call me crazy if you want, but violence is not cool kids, especially towards people i care and who are loyal to me, given be a friend or a employee, I defend and protect the people I love and trust and that’s my point!
to quote the infamous line from the classic film MOMMIE DEAREST
“Don’t FUCK with me FELLAS…this ain’t my first time at the RODEO…”
xcourtney

Trust me, the irony is not lost that Courtney writes about a horrible alleged homophobic hate crime right before she goes off on her own homophobic-laden rant of stereotypes rant of her own. The woman is a living conflict of interest … and if her writing is at all representative of her mental state, well, she’s an utter loon, too. If this incident actually happened as she says it did, does she think she’s really doing a service to her attacked friend by berating Rob Kardashian in such homophibcly hateful language? I, for one, would not be impressed. I think it’d take issue with being referred to as her “employee”, too … she makes the person sound like her pet. Incidentally, Kim Kardashian has already publicly responded to this blogpost by Courtney Love in a blogpost of her own on her official website. After the jump, hear what Kim (on behalf of the whole Kardashian family) has to say about Courtney’s allegations …

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