It has been known that Queen Elizabeth II will spend the Christmas holidays in Windsor and not travel to Sandringham as usual. Accordingly, it is the Queen’s personal decision to avoid the trip as a precautionary measure amid the increasing number of Omicron cases. Boris Johnson was informed of the decision, it said. However, the Queen will be visited by family members. The public will remain excluded from the celebrations.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, the royal family, including the queen, spent the period from Christmas to around the end of January at Sandringham House and, among other things, devoted themselves to bird hunting. This year it should now be avoided – also to prevent large numbers of onlookers from gathering. It will be her first Christmas without her late husband Philip by her side.