Newspaper headlines: 'King of Hearts' and NHS targets to be axed
- Published
King Charles III walks along side the Queen Consort after attending the Royal Family's Christmas Day service in Sandringham
One story dominates Boxing Day's front pages - King Charles III's first Christmas Day message. The renewed tradition is marked in the Sun as it defiantly declares the new 74-year-old monarch as the 'King of Hearts', external.
The King made a "notable break from tradition", external by focusing more on people struggling to pay their bills, than on the Royal Family, according to the Daily Telegraph.
NHS workers have been widely praised by the King in the Daily Mirror as "selfless". But the paper carries his warning of a "great anxiety" facing the nation, external as many continue to face cost of living struggles. The paper's editorial says the King told "home truths about what's happening in a blighted nation"
On the front page of the Daily Mail the Princess of Wales beams as the paper highlights King Charles's tribute to his late mother. The Mail also points to the continuing search for a gunman who opened fire at a pub in Merseyside, external - leaving one woman dead and three other men injured.
The Times looks at the King's support for the work of the health and emergency services at what the paper calls "such a politically charged moment", external. The paper also notes those who were not mentioned in his festive message including his brother Prince Andrew and his son Prince Harry.
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Some papers mention the murder of a 26-year-old woman who was fatally shot in the head on Christmas Eve in a pub in Wallasey.
Elsewhere, the i says a forthcoming review of the NHS will result in radical changes. The paper says targets introduced in the 1990s will be scrapped in order to reduce bureaucracy - which it says medics describe as "cumbersome box ticking exercises", external.
Finally, the Daily Star front page focuses on a pet firmly in the dog house after he was blamed for accidently causing a fire at a property in Essex by jumping on a bed and setting off a hairdryer, external.