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.
- Sources claim that despite talks of a smaller guest list, the Queen has decided 'with regret' to cancel the Christmas lunch altogether.
- It was previously reported that the party would still go ahead but with a limited number of guests and was to be held at Windsor Castle.
- This royal news (opens in new tab) comes after it’s been revealed that Kate Middleton once gave the Queen a risky Christmas gift she says ‘could’ve gone horribly wrong.’ (opens in new tab)
Despite the Queen’s commitment to honoring the Firm’s traditional Christmas plans (opens in new tab), her majesty has been forced to axe them all together as the Omicron variant (opens in new tab) 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 (opens in new tab), Prince Philip who passed away in April (opens in new tab).
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 (opens in new tab).
The traditional Christmas lunch had already been hit with changes, having been moved to Windsor Castle, instead of Buckingham Palace (opens in new tab). Now after a recording-breaking day of new Omicron cases (opens in new tab), 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.'
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.
There have been questions surrounding the traditional Christmas party ever since the Queen’s health scare (opens in new tab) and painful back strain (opens in new tab), 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.