The Queen Philip Christmas plans
Royals

Queen and Prince Philip to spend Christmas at Windsor Castle due to pandemic

It will be a quiet royal affair this year...

The Queen and Prince Philip are set to spend Christmas Day and the entire festive period at Windsor Castle.

Find out why the royals must stay here, who they will be celebrating with and more below…

Why are The Queen and Prince Philip spending Christmas at Windsor?

The Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, are spending Christmas away from their beloved Sandringham Estate for the first time in 33 years.

Instead they will celebrate Christmas and New Year’s at Windsor Castle.

This is due to the current pandemic and COVID travel restrictions.

Under current restrictions, people are only supposed to travel for essential journeys.

prince philip and the queen christmas 2020
Prince Philip and The Queen will spend Christmas alone at Windsor (Credit: SplashNews)

And cross country or overseas travel is only permitted with a valid legal reason.

Buckingham Palace confirmed earlier this month: “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.”

What’s more, as of this week, London has been placed in Tier 4 restrictions.

The highest of tier rules, this only further restricts The Queen and Prince Philip’s Christmas and New Year’s plans.

How will The Queen and Prince Philip spend Christmas Day?

The Queen and Philip will be forced to spend Christmas alone and away from family this Christmas.

However, they will reportedly still be served by their team of staff known as ‘HMS Bubble’ whom have been serving them since the first national lockdown.

Their team of staff have taken every precaution to effectively shield with Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh.

prince charles and camila
Prince Charles and Camilla won’t be able to join The Queen and Philip this year (Credit: SplashNews)

This is believed to include taking regular COVID tests.

Under tier 4 restrictions, The Queen and Prince Philip won’t be able to welcome any of their family over the holidays.

Originally it had been predicted they may choose to spend it with Prince Charles and Camilla.

And also with Prince Edward, Sophie Countess of Wessex and their two children.

But this was all scrapped once London and much of the South East was placed into Tier 4.

Will the Queen still deliver her Christmas Day message?

The Queen is still set to deliver her annual Christmas Day message. She will deliver it at 3pm from Windsor Castle.

Poster

It will be broadcast on BBC One, ITV, Sky One Sky News and BBC Radio 4. For the first time ever, it will also available via Amazon’s Alexa.

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor