Many were shocked when Queen Elizabeth, through an official statement released by Buckingham Palace, announced the cancelation of her Christmas plans this year. Her Majesty cited the present surges in COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom as one of the reasons why she decided to call off her pre-Christmas lunch with the other members of the royal family.
Instead of celebrating the holidays in her Sandringham estate, Queen Elizabeth would reportedly stay in Windsor Castle, where she has spent the majority of the pandemic, for Christmas and New Year break. This, according to reports, is to ensure that she would have COVID-safe holidays.
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However, new reports suggested that Queen Elizabeth would not be alone this Christmas after all. Keep on reading to know more details.
How Will Queen Elizabeth Celebrate Christmas Day?
Royal commentator Phil Dampier, as per Express UK, claimed that Queen Elizabeth is very much unlikely to be alone this Christmas. He said that the British monarch would have no more than 15 family members in her company, including Kate Middleton and Prince William.
Phil told The Sun:
“It wouldn't surprise me if Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince Andrew and possibly Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex and maybe some others - a small hard core of people - join her for lunch. Obviously it's going to be much smaller and it's going to be similar to last year. The one big difference is that Prince Philip is not going to be there.”
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Queen Elizabeth and some of the senior royals are expected to have a Christmas lunch at 1 p.m. before gathering together to witness the monarch’s speech. Phil Dampier furthered:
“They will probably have some sort of church service, or religious service in the morning, in the private chapel inside the castle or in St George’s chapel. And then I suspect they will have drinks as normal before lunch.”
Since only a few members of the royal family are invited to join Queen Elizabeth, Phil shared she would miss out on seeing her great-grandchildren opening their Christmas gifts, playing, and running about together. He also suggested that there may not be presents for adults.
Phil went on to say:
“I think all of that will go out the window. They just won’t want people mixing very much. And then in the evening they used to play games of charades and things - but again I think that will be out of the window.”
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Royal expert Katie Nicholl also shared her thoughts about the possibility of Queen Elizabeth being alone this Christmas. During an appearance on True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, she said:
“I simply cannot believe the family will allow it to happen, I don’t think it will happen.”
There have been claims that Queen Elizabeth has prepared something on Christmas Day as she is, allegedly, excited to get reunited with the members of the royal family. To recall, they also had to cancel their holiday plans last year as COVID-19 cases continue to increase all over the world.
Princess Anne Won’t Be Joining Queen Elizabeth This Christmas
Meanwhile, other reports claimed that Queen Elizabeth would not be joined by her daughter, Princess Anne, as she would be isolated with her husband, Sir Timothy Lawrence, after the latter tested positive for COVID-19. A Clarence House spokesman has said that Her Majesty would be celebrating with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles instead.
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For starters, Queen Elizabeth usually hosts her family at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where crowds of people gather to watch the royals walk to the Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene Church. However, Her Majesty was forced to cancel her plans as COVID-19 cases surged recently.
Queen Elizabeth also spent last Christmas at Windsor, where she stayed protected with her now late husband, Prince Philip, throughout the lockdowns. This year marks her first Christmas without the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April.
Stay tuned to EpicStream for the latest news and updates about Queen Elizabeth!
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