Her Majesty and Prince Philip had decided to abandon the traditional Royal Family Christmas celebrations at Sandringham to instead spend a week alone at Windsor Castle. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, had reportedly hoped to visit the Queen during the festive period.
However, the Prince and Duchess’ plans are likely to be scrapped as the couple are expected to remain at Highgrove, Gloucestershire, which is in Tier Two.
The couple are hoping for a visit from the Duchess of Cornwall’s two children and grandchildren on Christmas Day, according to reports.
A Clarence House course told the Telegraph: “Obviously, they will adhere to all the guidelines.”
Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex had also reportedly planned to visited the Queen at some point during the festive period before the Tier Four restrictions where announced.
Kate Middleton and Prince William are said to be sending Christmas with their three children at their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.
The Cambridges managed to leave Kensington Palace before London was placed into Tier Three and Tier Four restrictions which limit non-essential travel.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had originally planned to spend Christmas with Kate’s family in Berkshire but had to change their plans due to the pandemic.
Berkshire was moved into Tier 3 last week along with London, which reportedly led the Cambridges to offer to host their relatives in Norfolk.
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“We’re sacrificing the chance to see our loved ones this Christmas so that we have a better chance of protecting their loves, so that we can see them at future Christmases.”
He added: “When the facts change you have to change your approach.”
Despite the Prime Minister’s new coronavirus measures, the Queen’s pre-recorded Christmas message is not expected to be re-recorded before it is broadcast.
Royal sources told the Telegraph the message has been written extremely carefully with a “very broad brush” due to the evolving situation.
They said that this meant the message would not need to be edited.
Her Majesty is expected to complete a royal Christmas first this year with her annual speech.
Her Christmas day message will be broadcast from Amazon’s Alexa for the first time ever.
Anyone with the smart device will be able to ask Alexa to play the speech in full from 3pm on Christmas day.
According to Sky News, Eric King director of Alexa Europe, said: “After a challenging year, millions of people from across the Commonwealth will be eagerly awaiting Her Majesty the Queen’s message on Christmas Day.
“By creating this world-first innovation, just as we did in 2012 with the release of the Queen’s Christmas speech on Kindle, we hope that even more people will be able to enjoy the uplifting words of Her Majesty.
“This really is one for the history books and showcases just how far technology has advanced since the very first speech was delivered back in 1932.”
