The Queen will spend Christmas at Windsor
Castle for the second year running, it was confirmed by Buckingham Palace on
Monday.
It’s understood the decision was taken as a
“precautionary” measure amid rising COVID-19 cases. A royal source
has said the 95-year-old will be visited by members of the royal family over
the festive period, as she marks the first Christmas without her late husband,
the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away in April.
The
royal source added sensible precautions will be taken by those visiting – so
who could join the Queen at Windsor this year?
Last
year, Prince Charles and Camilla stayed at their Gloucester home, Highgrove
House, while the Cambridges spent Christmas at their Norfolk abode, Anmer Hall.
It seems likely that the Queen will be
visited by her second son, the Duke of York, and his former wife who lives
nearby at Royal Lodge. Her Majesty’s granddaughter, Princess Eugenie, is also
currently living at the Sussexes’ UK home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor
estate with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and their ten-month-old son, August.
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The royals spent Christmas 2020 separately
The Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and
his wife, Sophie, live only a 20-minute drive away from Windsor Castle at
Bagshot Park in Surrey. The Wessexes could be among the monarch’s first
visitors along with their children, Lady Lousie Windsor, 18, and James,
Viscount Severn, 14, given their close proximity.
It’s also possible that the monarch’s only
daughter, Princess Royal, and her children, Peter Philips and Zara Tindall,
could make the journey to Windsor from Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire during
the festive period. The Queen’s eldest great-granddaughter, Savannah Phillips,
will celebrate her 11th birthday on 29 December.
Her
Majesty traditionally hosts her family at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk
over the holidays, and they are watched by crowds as they attend church on
Christmas Day. However, the Queen and Prince Philip spent their first Christmas
in Windsor in 33 years last year due to the pandemic.
