Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.Photo: Samir Hussein/Wireimage
Queen Elizabethwill have some close family around her to celebrate the holidays.
A Clarence House spokesperson has confirmed to PEOPLE thatPrince CharlesandCamilla, Duchess of Cornwallwill join the 95-year-old monarch at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day.
It follows news thatPrincess Annewill not be joining her brother and mother for the holidays, after her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, 66,tested positive for COVID.
In line with UK government guidance, Anne, 71, and her husband are currently isolating at their home on the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire for a minimum of seven days.
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This year’s royal festive gathering is particularly poignant, coming just eight months after thedeathofPrince Philip.
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Like millions of others, the Queen has had torethink her holiday arrangementsand opted to not head to her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where she normally stays from late December to just after February 6 (the date she became queen at the death of her father George VI nearly 70 years ago).
With the Omicron coronavirus variant causing a huge rise in cases, she has instead decided to stay at Windsor Castle for the second year in a row. It means that nearly all of the royal family’s festive traditions will also not take place this year.
Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince William and Prince George at Christmas 2019.Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty
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Normally, members of the royal family join the Queen at Sandringham, with guests typically arriving in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve.
The royals then open their presents on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day the family famously walks to a service at St. Mary’s Magdalene Church on the estate. After their outing, the royal family normally heads back to Sandringham House for a lunch of Norfolk turkey and other festivities.
According to a royal source, the Queen’s decision to cancel these traditions and remain at Windsor was taken after"careful consideration.“It also signals an ongoing “precautionary approach,” the source added.
It is currently unknown ifPrince William,Kate Middletonor any other members of the royal family will join the Queen, Charles and Camilla at Windsor. One thing is for sure, however: The Queen’s annual speech to the U.K. and Commonwealth will take place at 3 p.m. local time on Christmas Day — just as it has every year but one since 1957.
source: people.com
