More care should be taken of the needy and vulnerable, the Queen said yesterday. On the 50th anniversary of her first Christmas address, she urged the public to take a “share in the responsibility for the wellbeing of those who feel excluded”.

The recorded broadcast went out after the Royal Family attended a service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

The Queen spoke of how Mary, Joseph and the newborn Jesus were a family who were shut out by society. She said: “The Christmas story also draws attention to all those people who are on the edge of society. For these people, the modern world can seem a distant and hostile place. It is all too easy to turn a blind eye, ‘to pass by on the other side’.

“Fortunately, there are many groups and individuals, often unsung and unrewarded, who are dedicated to ensuring that the ‘outsiders’ are given a chance to be recognised and respected. However, each one of us can also help by offering a little time, a talent or a possession, and taking a share in the responsibility for the wellbeing of those who feel excluded.”

The address also showed the Queen, wearing an apricot silk dress by Kelly and Pordum, viewing footage from her first televised address in 1957. On Sunday Buckingham Palace launched the Royal Channel on YouTube, the video-sharing website. After just two days it is in the top 20 most viewed sections of the website.

Speaking of the pace of technological advance, the Queen said: “One of the features of growing old is a heightened awareness of change. To remember what happened 50 years ago means that it is possible to appreciate what has changed. It also makes you aware of what has remained constant.”

The broadcast included previously unseen footage of the Royal Family gathered at Clarence House for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 60th wedding anniversary last month. As they pose for a group photograph, Prince Harry is seen asking with a grin: “Are you going to feed us now?”

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