Change of program for the Queen of England. Faced with the surge of the Omicron variant across the Channel, Queen Elizabeth II has canceled her traditional stay at her residence in Sandringham, in the east of England, for Christmas. The 95-year-old sovereign took this “personal decision after careful consideration”, explained a source close to the monarchy to the British press agency PA, for whom this choice “reflects a cautious approach”.
Ultimately, the monarch will stay at Windsor Castle near London this year, British media reported on Monday. “Members of the (royal) family will be coming to Windsor over Christmas period”, assures this same anonymous source. “Reasonable precautions and all appropriate guidelines will be followed”, she emphasizes.
Close members of the Royal Family traditionally spend Christmas at Sandringham, where they attend church on Christmas Day. In a context of a new epidemic wave, the queen, to whom the doctors had advised in October to rest after a night spent in the hospital, had already given up as a precaution to organize her traditional family reunion which was to bring together about fifty people this Tuesday at Windsor Castle.
The United Kingdom recorded 91,743 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours on Monday, the second highest daily total since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that he “would not hesitate to take action” more restrictive in order to stem the spread of the Omicron variant, without however going through the turn of the screw demanded by some. “Right now we want people to focus on being careful”, stressed the conservative leader on televisions.