QUEEN ‘TOO ILL’ FOR CHRISTMAS SERVICE
Heavy cold forces Monarch to miss traditional church trip for first time
THE Queen was yesterday forced to cancel her traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham for the first time.
It came four days after she and the Duke of Edinburgh fell ill with colds.
Members of the Royal Family, including a recovered Prince Philip, attended the service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the estate but the Queen
remained indoors at Sandringham House.
Yesterday Buckingham Palace announced that the 90-year-old monarch, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, would be unable to go to the service.
It was an announcement that sent alarm bells ringing amid fears for her health.
At the end of last week royal sources had appeared confident that she would be well enough to attend church.
But despite the announcement, there was no suggestion that she had taken a turn for the worse yesterday.
It is understood that since she travelled to Norfolk – a day later than planned because of her illness – the Queen has been up and about and dealing with preparations for Christmas.
A palace spokesman said: “Her Majesty the Queen will not attend church at Sandringham.
“The Queen continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery.
“Her Majesty will participate in the Royal Family Christmas celebrations during the day.”
It is the first time the Queen has missed the church service at Sandringham since the Royal family moved their festive celebration there in 1988. It is also believed to be the first time she has missed the service during her 64-year reign. However, no one in the royal household has served long enough to recall with certainty.
She has spent every Christmas Day since 1988 at Sandringham and attended the parish church each time.
There are long-standing contingency plans in place if the Queen or any other member of her family falls ill while at Sandringham.
A team of doctors, under the supervision of Professor Huw Thomas, the Queen’s physician, is on call and arrangements are in place for the Queen to be transferred to hospital – usually Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge – if the sovereign needs emergency treatment.
The Queen’s illness emerged on Wednesday when she and Prince Philip failed to take a scheduled train service from London Kings Cross to King’s Lynn.
Police officers and station staff were waiting for the royal couple to arrive when the call came through that the trip was cancelled.
The following day they left Buckingham Palace in a helicopter for Sandringham.
Despite their advancing years, the monarch and 95-year-old Philip have generally remained in good health and have missed few official engagements in recent years due to illness. The Queen was treated for the symptoms of gastroenteritis in 2013 and stayed overnight in hospital. She was forced to cancel an official trip to Rome.
In June last year, Buckingham Palace also took the unusual step of confirming the Queen’s visit to a private hospital for a routine medical check-up following speculation on social media about the state of her health. The Queen and Philip have been gradually scaling back their duties.
Last week the palace announced the monarch was standing down as patron of 25 charities and handing the responsibilities over to other members of her family.
Her last public engagements were on December 15 when she held a number of audiences including one with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
She also hosted a lunch for her extended family at Buckingham Palace last Tuesday but the last time that she granted an audience was on December 9.
Yesterday Buckingham Palace declined to say when the Queen recorded her Christmas broadcast but it is understood that it was filmed on December 14.
‘Her Majesty will participate in the Christmas celebrations’