The Queen cancels Christmas plans with royal family amid Omicron spread

Queen Elizabeth II prepares to greet Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev at Buckingham Palace on November 4, 2015 in London, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images / Chris Jackson - WPA Pool)

The Queen has announced that she is cancelling the royal family's Christmas party because it's the 'right thing to do' amid Omicron surge.

Despite the Queen’s commitment to honoring the Firm’s traditional Christmas plans, her majesty has been forced to axe them all together as the Omicron variant continues to spike.

The royal family was due to gather for what will be an especially poignant and heartbreaking occasion for the Queen. his will be her first Christmas without her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip who passed away in April

The Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh re-visit Broadlands, to mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary on November 20.

The plan was for 50 or so guests to join the Queen for a festive feast, with the family set to rally around the 95-year-old monarch before she departed for her stay at Sandringham.

The traditional Christmas lunch had already been hit with changes, having been moved to Windsor Castle, instead of Buckingham Palace.  Now after a recording-breaking day of new Omicron cases, the Queen has made the sad call to cancel it.

ITV’s royal correspondent Chris Ship tweeted the news The Queen was cancelling her Christmas plans, saying, 'The Queen is said to regret the decision to cancel the traditional pre-Christmas lunch with her family. But it was decided it was the right thing to do.'

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Though the cancelling of the Christmas lunch is described as 'precautionary,' it is now unlikely that the royal family will be able to gather together as planned over the festive break.

Queen Elizabeth II records her annual Christmas broadcast in Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England.

There have been questions surrounding the traditional Christmas party ever since the Queen’s health scare and painful back strain, with fears that she may face Christmas alone.

Sadly, that may now be the case, after further plans for intimate members of the family joining the Queen at Sandringham may also now be scrapped.

Naomi Jamieson
Lifestyle News Writer

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Lifestyle team and has recently earned her Gold Standard Diploma in Journalism from the NCTJ. She has a background in design, having studied Illustration at Plymouth University but has taken a leap into the world of journalism after always having a passion for writing. She currently writes pieces on beauty, fashion, and entertainment for Goodto.com and My Imperfect Life.