Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to break Christmas tradition in 2020

British Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip recently celebrated 73 years of marriage and for most of those years they have spent their holidays the same way – celebrating Christmas with their extended family at the monarch’s private home at Sandringham in Norfolk, England. .

But not this year.

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As the coronavirus pandemic continues to increase, royals will follow the plan that many families around the world have for this Christmas: break with tradition and skip the big gathering.

“After considering all the appropriate advice, the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have decided that this year they will spend Christmas in Windsor quietly,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told NBC News.

A vacation at Sandringham House is a centuries-old tradition for the couple, as well as their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Christmas morning usually begins with a visit to Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, where the family, many of whom travel on foot from the main house to the country church, join the Queen for services.

And after their return, the Queen broadcasts her Christmas Day televised address to the nation from Sandringham House, as she has done on several occasions since her first televised Christmas message in 1957 (and as she did at the radio before that).

But while that’s the way things generally go with the Royal Family at this time of year, 2020 won’t mark the first time Elizabeth and Philip have stepped down from the trip to Sandringham for the holidays.

In 1953, they gave the tradition a pass while they were busy on a royal tour of New Zealand, where the Queen was still tapping her Christmas show on the radio.

And several Christmases in the 1960s saw the family stay near Windsor Castle, as Elizabeth and Philip’s children were still young.

But since 1988, the couple have made sure to take the Christmas trip every year, with one exception. In 2016, the Queen and Philip skipped Sandringham because they were suffering from ‘bad colds’.