A photograph of the Queen at the recording of the televised speech shows her wearing the same brooch she wore for her honeymoon photoshoot with Prince Philip, and again for their Diamond Wedding anniversary.

That picture of the couple taken to mark their Diamond Wedding, in which they gaze at one another fondly with an air of sharing a private joke, is seen on her desk.

Curiously, the brooch appears to be placed on the Queen’s opposite side to previous appearances, pinned to her right rather than her left.

A source said the change was simply a decision on the day, but admirers of the Queen will no doubt speculate it was a reference to the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh, just as some widows swap their wedding rings from left to right.

‘Particularly personal’

The speech, a source said, is expected to be “particularly personal” this year, as the Queen prepares to spend her first Christmas as a widow.

Filmed in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, the Queen is seen wearing an embossed wool shift dress in festive red, by her friend and designer Angela Kelly.

She accessorises with a sapphire chrysanthemum brooch, originally given to her during a royal engagement in 1946 when she launched an oil tanker named the ‘British Princess’.

She has worn it on many occasions since, from overseas visits to portraits with her children when they were young.