Young royals captivate the Christmas crowds
Princess Charlotte and Prince George charm as Prince Andrew opts to attend a private service instead.
Royal youngsters Princess Charlotte and Prince George charmed Christmas morning crowds along the Sandringham Estate as the Queen and other members of the royal family arrived for their annual church service on Christmas Day.
Prince Andrew, who has been sidelined from public life because of his car-crash interview in November where he said he had no regrets about a friendship with pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, did not attend.
Andrew had turned up for a private church service — off-limits to the public — earlier in the morning and was photographed walking with Prince Charles, but his no show for the main royal occasion of the festive season was in response to fears that the usually genteel and royal-loving Norfolk crowd might criticise him.
Suit-wearing George, 6, and Charlotte, 4, wearing a green outfit, held hands with their parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along the 400m walk in the woods from Sandringham Hall to St Mary Magdalene Church. Their younger brother, Prince Louis, remained back in the house, considered too young at 19 months to attend.
This was the first time Prince William and Kate had brought their children to this church service to sing Christmas carols and hear a short Christmas address before then greeting the well-wishers outside.
Well-wisher Gemma Clark gave Princess Charlotte her cherished pink flamingo – a birthday present from September when she turned 39.
“Charlotte and George both gave me a hug and when I gave Charlotte the flamingo she said thank you. George didn’t say anything, I think he was a bit shy.”
She added: “I have been counting down the days to today and for Kate to bring both children over to me was amazing, I can’t believe it.”
Nine-year-old Charlie Gunns, also in a wheelchair spoke to Prince William and Prince George asking them about their Christmas morning. “Prince William asked me about my morning too,” he said.
The Queen, wearing a red coat, drove up with the Duchess of Cornwall.
The focus on the younger royals — and also the heirs, princes Charles, William and George — comes after a particularly “bumpy” year for the Queen. Pleasingly, her husband, Prince Philip, 98, had returned to Sandringham after spending four days in a London hospital for a pre-existing condition to enjoy the Christmas lunch.
He did not attend the service while continuing recuperation where he feels most comfortable, having relocated to Sandringham’s Wood Cottage this year.
Others to miss the royal Christmas were Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, who elected to spend six weeks, including Christmas, in Canada as they ponder their future roles. Their decision to have Christmas with Meghan’s friend Jessica Mulroney and her mother, Doria Ragland, has been criticised as selfish because of Philip’s health scare and the Queen being 93.
This follows public condemnation in recent months for using a documentary set in Africa as a platform to air their grievances with the press.
The Queen did not have any pictures of Harry and Meghan or their baby, Archie, on her desk when delivering the Queen’s message, instead highlighting the line of succession from her father, King George VI, down to Prince Louis, who is sixth in line.
Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice strode alongside her fiancee, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, while Princess Eugenie was next to her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
Princess Anne, her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, also attended at the front of the pack.
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