WATCH: Queen honors Prince Philip during Christmas message

"Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many," the Queen began, "Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones. This year, especially, I understand why."

The Queen lists some ways he is remembered, such as his "capacity to squeeze fun out of any situation," and continues: "But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings; and as much as I and my family miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas."

The Queen then acknowledges how the COVID-19 pandemic means many cannot celebrate the holiday as they wished, and highlights the importance of happy traditions and passing them down "from one generation to the next."

She goes on to describe Prince Philip's legacy, such as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and how younger generations within her own family have taken up causes he supported.

She mentions how many say Christmas is a time for children. "Perhaps it’s truer to say that Christmas can speak to the child within us all. Adults, when weighed down with worries, sometimes fail to see the joy in simple things, where children do not."

She says that "even with one familiar laugh missing this year, there will be joy in Christmas" as they "see anew the wonder of the festive season through the eyes of our young children."

"They teach us all a lesson - just as the Christmas story does - that in the birth of a child, there is a new dawn with endless potential."

"It is this simplicity of the Christmas story that makes it so universally appealing: simple happenings that formed the starting point of the life of Jesus — a man whose teachings have been handed down from generation to generation, and have been the bedrock of my faith. His birth marked a new beginning. As the carol says, 'The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.'"

The Queen concludes: "I wish you all a very happy Christmas."

The Queen's complete Christmas broadcast, which includes a montage of images of her and Prince Philip, can be viewed here.