Usually, on Christmas Day, there are plenty of pictures of the British royal family as they walk en masse to the church for 11 am service on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. However, like all of us this year, the Queen and her descendants are having a very different Christmas and will mark the day separately and behind closed doors.
In the absence of any public appearances, Clarence House released a new photograph of Prince Charles and Camilla to celebrate Christmas. The photo was taken by a team member in Birkhall, Scotland, earlier this year, and shows the couple dressed casually and holding walking sticks in front of the camera. The prince is smiling widely and has a pair of binoculars around his neck. The Duchess is dressed in jeans. In July, she revealed during an interview with BBC Radio 5 that she has been “very, very happy” wearing jeans this year. She told presenter Emma Barnett: “I am very, very happy with my jeans. It will be very difficult to get out of them again. I think you get into a kind of lifestyle, don’t you? “
The photograph was taken earlier this year in Scotland, but today Charles and Camilla are spending Christmas Day together at the Prince’s Highgrove residence in Gloucestershire. The Duchess also hoped to see her children and grandchildren during the festive period if restrictions permit, and the couple also indicated earlier this year that they can make a socially distant visit to the Queen and Prince Philip, who are spending Christmas quietly at the Castle from Windsor. The Cambridges are currently at their home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall.
Like all families in the UK, royals are subject to strict restrictions during the festive period because of the increased spread of COVID-19 and the confirmation of a new strain that is considered to be more infectious. The British government had initially said that up to three families could meet indoors for five days during the festive period, but changed the rules in less than a week for Christmas. The country is now divided into layers, with London and the Southeast facing the most severe restrictions, which for most means that no family mixes, even on Christmas Day. In other areas, three families can still get together, but only on Christmas Day.
A real tradition that will continue as usual, however, is the Queen’s Christmas broadcast, which is recorded in advance and will be broadcast to the country at 3 pm in the UK today. She rarely participates in television broadcasts outside of this one, but earlier this year she addressed the nation in a memorable way at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
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