Queen ‘set to move house’ in a matter of days as she faces heartbreaking anniversary

The Queen could make a move to her Norfolk countryside home, Sandringham House, before the weekend as she prepares to mark a heartbreaking anniversary. 

• Her Majesty has returned to Berkshire after a weekend away at her Sandringham Estate, but it seems she could be back in Norfolk very soon.
• A royal commentator has suggested she could visit ahead of marking her first wedding anniversary since the death of Prince Philip. 
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as the Queen issues a sad message about growing old as her illness forces her to miss another key event (opens in new tab).

The Queen will soon face her first wedding anniversary since the death of her beloved husband Prince Philip and it's thought she could return to Norfolk for this poignant occasion. The Queen and Prince Philip were married (opens in new tab) for 73 years after tying the knot on 20th November 1947. A staggering 2,000 guests were invited to the ceremony and the royal couple even had to reshoot wedding photos (opens in new tab) during their honeymoon after a shocking mishap. 

Since he retired in 2017, the Duke of Edinburgh spent the majority of his time on the Sandringham Estate whilst Her Majesty was based at Buckingham Palace. Despite the geographical distance, however, they are understood to have spoken on the phone every day they weren’t living together and Philip remained the monarch’s closest confidante. 

Sandringham is also where the Queen and Philip traditionally spent Christmas, which is a family affair bringing together their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren (opens in new tab). As a result of the special connection this Norfolk estate has to Philip, it’s been suggested that she could return to Sandringham very soon as their anniversary approaches. 

As reported by OK! (opens in new tab) magazine, royal commentator Duncan Larcombe previously expressed his belief that the Queen could head to Sandringham. This comes after she was given the "all clear" to fly (opens in new tab) there by helicopter for a visit earlier this month.

“The Queen always goes to Sandringham for Christmas but I’ve never known her to head there as early as she did,” Duncan said.  “It may be that she was there because of her health issues but she may well have made the decision to visit because that’s where she feels closest to Philip.”

He continued, “Sandringham was Philip’s favourite residence by some distance and he would have liked to have lived there all the time if he could have, so you can imagine that the Queen takes comfort from being there."

“She’s expected to attend the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph”, he said at the time, before adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she returned to Sandringham soon afterwards.”

However, despite planning to go to the Remembrance Service, the Queen suffered a painful injury (opens in new tab), forcing her to miss this at the last minute. Though her sprained back might make travel more difficult, it could be that the Queen feels well enough to make a special trip to Norfolk for her anniversary.

If she does, Duncan believes that Prince William and Kate Middleton, whose country home, Anmer Hall, is close by, could be a great source of comfort to her, saying it’s “possible” they could visit her on the anniversary and that she and Kate are “very close”. 

“I think Kate will be considered the right person to offer support to the Queen on what will be a poignant reminder of a long and happy marriage,” he declared. “Being at Sandringham makes it very easy for them to make private visits to see the Queen. ”

Whether or not the Queen might move to Sandringham to mark this anniversary remains to be seen. However, the thought that Her Majesty might spend it at such a special place to her and Prince Philip is truly heart-warming.