Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, 90, missed a traditional Christmas church service on Sunday for the first time in decades due to a heavy cold, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.
Elizabeth, the world’s longest-reigning living monarch, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, both suffering what the Palace described as heavy colds this week, delayed the journey to their Sandringham country residence in eastern England by a day, traveling there by helicopter on Thursday, reports Reuters.
The queen has attended the Christmas service at the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene in Sandringham every year since the family started celebrating Christmas there in 1988.
Before then, the family spent Christmas at Windsor where Elizabeth attended a service since the mid-1960s. It was unclear if Elizabeth had ever missed a Christmas Day service before.
Philip was driven to church and walked in unaided, a Reuters photographer said, while Prince Charles, heir to the throne, walked to the church with his wife Camilla and other members of the family.
“The queen continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery,” a palace spokesman said. “Her Majesty will participate in the Royal Family Christmas celebrations during the day.”
