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The Queen'sChristmas Day speech has been slammed on social media for being "out of touch" and disrespectful to families "struggling to make ends meet".

In her annual address, broadcast at 3pm today. the head of state talked about Brexit and austerity.

But she also praised the Comonwealth for "the bonds of affection it promotes, and a common desire to live in a better, more peaceful world.

"Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding."

The royal joked about being a grandmother and looking forward family weddings.

But the Queen was branded "out of touch" by viewers as the 92-year-old monarch delivered her speech beside a lavish golden piano in a luxurious room at Buckingham Palace.

Some commentators pointed out the vast disparity between the Queen's opulence and the real-life situations of her 'subjects' as she called for people to come together no be riven by tribalism.

(Image: Getty Images)

One posted on Twitter: "Always warms an old republican’s heart to see the billionaire head of an antiquated institution, surrounding themselves with gold in their modest 775-roomed detached home, while others are f***ing struggling to make ends meet."

Others highlighted the plight of food bank users over Christmas, with one writing: "Queen says, from her humble and modest surroundings, family kept her 'well occupied' over the year. I suspect the thousands of mums and dads that use food banks and struggle on Universal Credit each week could say the same."

And one Twitter user said: "I don't understand the criticism old Mrs Windsor is getting over her gold piano while she lectures her subjects. It's a fairly standard piece of furniture. I keep mine next to my diamond encrusted microwave."

(Image: PA)

One man posted: "Child poverty is at a modern high and Old Queen Lizzy is telling us all to stick together with her big gold piano and £365 million loft conversion paid by her struggling people."

Others called the message "pathetic", and "dire".

The Queen’s private net worth is thought to be around £370million, according to the Sunday Times.

Her reign as monarch has lasted 66 years and she has been married to the Duke of Edinburgh for more than seven decades.

She was, earlier today, at the traditional Christmas Day service at the church at Sandringham.

THE HISTORY OF THE PIANO

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert installed pianos in the private apartments of all their residences.

Together they played arrangements of overtures and symphonies, and accompanied each other in song.

This particular elaborately decorated instrument was intended as a showpiece for the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.

(Image: rct.uk)

The gilded case is decorated in the French early eighteenth-century style with cherubs and singeries – comical scenes involving monkeys playing musical instruments and making mischief.

Queen Victoria had owned a piano decorated in a similar manner almost twenty years earlier. In her diary of 5 March 1839, she wrote, 'Lord Melbourne admired the new painted piano I have in the drawing-room, and said, 'I like those monkeys on it.'

The piano, an S & P Erard, was first purchased by Queen Victoria in 1856.

It is made of mahogany, satinwood and pine, with brass and gilt bronze mounts, gilded and varnished.

It is decorated with elaborate oil scenes on the lids and sides and finished off with a varnish.

It underwent a major restoration with cleaning and repair prior to featuring in a Victoria and Albert exhibition which was held in The Queen’s Gallery in 2010.

The restoration was mainly to remove substantial dirt from the two main lids and the upper surfaces, and to restore varnish.

According to the Royal Collection trust, it measures 95.7cm x 142.2 x 243.8.

Erard was founded by Sébastien Erard (1752-1831) who started out making pianos for the French nobility

The firm passed through the generations of the Erard family, which opened a London premises in 1790.

When Pierre Erard (1794-1855) ran the London business the firm won a gold medal at the 1824 Paris Exposition and became piano maker to Albert, Prince Consort - husband of Queen Victoria.

The piano is stamped with the serial number 3985.

The Royal Collection Trust describes the surface as "painted by François Rochard in polychrome colours with singeries and Berainesque motifs.

"The mouldings and rim of the piano are bronze, chased and gilt.

"It is supported on three incurving cabriole legs of gilded wood with heavy floral garlands and carved at the top with two scrolls flanking a prominent flower.

"Pedal section in form of lyre in gilded wood with foliate decoration."