Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to have 'quiet' Christmas at Windsor Castle rather than Sandringham, palace confirms
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have decided to break with tradition this year and remain at Windsor Castle rather than make the usual planned trip to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The Queen has spent the Christmas and new year period in Sandringham every year since 1988.
She usually relocates there from London shortly before Christmas Day and stays there until after the date of her accession to the throne in February.
From the archive: Footage from last time the Queen and royal family spent Christmas at Windsor in 1987
However, Buckingham Palace has announced that the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a change of plan for the Monarch.
A Palace spokesperson said: "Having considered all the appropriate advice, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have decided that this year they will spend Christmas quietly in Windsor."
It means the Royal Family will not be able to gather en masse at Sandringham as they usually do for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - when they all attend a service in the morning at St Mary Magdelene Church on the estate.
The Queen and Prince Philip are spending the second lockdown at Windsor Castle, as they did during the first lockdown in the Spring.
The arrangements to keep them safe with a small coterie of staff of a dozen or so was nicknamed HMS Bubble.
Those plans will be now be rolled into the Christmas holidays.
The Royal Family is limited to the same government restrictions as everyone else this year and will only be able to mix with a maximum of two other households for the five day duration over the festive period.
Royal aides say the Queen understands that her family "will have competing demands" this year in order to comply with the UK-wide regulations.
ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship on the Queen's Christmas plans
Therefore, we are told that she is content to spend it quietly, although she may still see "some members" of her family. Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York live at Royal Lodge on the Windsor Estate and her granddaughter Princess Eugenie is moving into Harry and Meghan's home, Frogmore Cottage, with her husband Jack Brooksbank. Royal sources say Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will spend the Christmas period at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and Camilla will also see her family. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have previously taken their children, George, Charlotte and Louis, to see Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middelton in Berkshire on Christmas Day. The Sandringham stay is normally very important for the Queen as she observes the anniversary of her father death there. He died on the Norfolk estate on 6 February 1952. The Queen used to spend Christmas with her family at Windsor but changed those plans after 1987 because the Castle was being re-wired.