In Queen Elizabeth's Christmas address, more than a touch of royal angst over tumult-filled year

LONDON - If life imitated Netflix, this year in the United Kingdom would have been fodder for a few particularly tumultuous episodes of "The Crown."

Gathering around the telly for Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message, this one her 68th since ascending the throne, is a holiday tradition in many British households. The 93-year-old monarch's pre-taped broadcast address generally looks back on the waning year with a traditional dose of hope and cheer, perhaps a dash of veiled political commentary, sometimes served up with a soupcon of family complications - because what would the holidays be without those?

This year's address, carefully parsed as always by palace-watchers, contained veiled yet pointed observations about