Rugby League’s Westminster Abbey date set for Christmas Eve

Rugby League was proudly represented at this year’s Princess of Wales annual Christmas carol service, which will be broadcast on ITV1 on Christmas Eve.   

HRH The Princess of Wales is Patron of the Rugby Football League, and among the 1,500 guests at Westminster Abbey were representatives from the RFL and Hull FC, who earlier this year welcomed the Princess to a celebration of inclusivity event at the club’s University of Hull-based Centre of Excellence. 

Her Royal Highness made an impressive Wheelchair Rugby League debut at Hull, under the expert guidance of England coach Tom Coyd MBE and Hull FC player-coach Mike Swainger. England Wheelchair World Cup winners Wayne Boardman, Lewis King and Tom Halliwell OBE presented her with England shirts for children George, Louis and Charlotte, and the Princess also took part in separate sessions with Hull FC’s physical and learning disability teams.  

Hull FC’s LDRL and PDRL teams were represented at Westminster Abbey by Chris and Fred Dearlove, and Carl and Joshua Woods, who won the club's Disability Player of the Year in 2023.

Royal Carols: Together at Christmas, will be broadcast at 7.45pm this Sunday. Hosted by the princess herself, Together at Christmas ties in with Catherine’s ongoing campaign in support of children and young people. The service combines the traditional and the modern, with the famous Westminster Abbey choir performing alongside singers such as Beverley Knight and Adam Lambert, who duet on Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song.