Queen cancels traditional Christmas festival in Sandringham

Because of Omicron
Queen cancels traditional Christmas festival in Sandringham

This Christmas will be particularly difficult for Queen Elizabeth II. It’s the first time she’ll have to spend the holidays without her husband Prince Philip, who passed away in April at the age of 99. In addition, the highly contagious Omikron variant also throws the royals’ plans upside down. The trip to Sandringham, where the Queen traditionally spends her Christmas vacation and stays until the beginning of February, has been canceled. Instead, the 95-year-old stays – like last year – at Windsor Castle. There she wants to receive visits from family members. It is not yet clear who will come and when.

There had already been concerns about whether traditional church attendance could take place on Christmas Day. Usually hundreds of people gather to catch a glimpse of the royal family walking from the church to the castle. The danger that the Omikron variant will spread among the crowds is great – even in the fresh air. Now not only the walk but the whole trip to Sandringham in the county of Norfolk has been canceled.

Omikron upsets the Queen’s Christmas plans

The Queen had made the “personal decision after careful consideration”, quoted the British news agency Press Association as saying a member of the royal family. All precautions and rules would be followed during the holidays, assured the representative.

In the past week, a planned Christmas dinner for the Queen had to be canceled. The monarch originally invited around 50 guests to the pre-Christmas meal at Windsor Castle. Traditionally, family dining is very important to the queen. Due to the corona pandemic, it did not take place for the second time.

The novel variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Great Britain. The country recorded 91,743 new infections on Monday. The capital London in particular is badly affected. Mayor Sadiq Khan had declared a disaster on the weekend.

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