The immediate concern for Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace is whether QEII will be well enough to attend the Remembrance Sunday events on November 14th. She’s already cancelled her appearance at the Festival of Remembrance, which is a concert ahead of Remembrance Sunday. She will not attend any of the events leading up to Nov. 14th, like an appearance at Westminster Abbey (I’m assuming). But after all of that, the next question is: will the Queen be able to host and enjoy her favorite Christmas activities? Christmas is also a busy time for the Queen, especially as she usually hosts a pre-Christmas royal luncheon, then hosts the family at Sandringham every year. Last year was different because of the pandemic, but apparently the Queen wants everyone around at Sandringham this year.
The Queen has told her family she will host Christmas at Sandringham after she has rested up on the advice of royal doctors. The monarch is said to be “totally committed” to entertaining her loved ones at her Norfolk home after missing out last year because of the pandemic.
On Friday it was revealed Her Majesty, 95, has cancelled all working visits for the next two weeks and has been advised to stick to “light, desk-based duties”. But royal sources said she is determined to recover soon so she can see her family at their traditional festive gathering.
Last year restrictions meant the Queen and the late Prince Philip had a quiet Christmas alone at Windsor Castle. But after losing her husband of 73 years in April, it is understood Her Majesty really wants to see everyone together.
A Palace insider said: “This year, more than ever, it is incredibly important to Her Majesty to be surrounded by her loved ones. The Queen is totally committed to hosting everyone as she hopes to make it back to full health in the coming weeks. Her Majesty is resting under doctors’ orders with the intention of being able to fully enjoy the company of her extended family over the holiday period. After being forced to cancel a host of engagements, the family get-together will be the perfect tonic.”
Royal aides insist the Queen is in “good spirits” and stress her medical team is simply taking “sensible precautions” with its latest advice.
This made me pretty sad. It was just the dawning realization that the Queen wants a nice Christmas with her family, and that she’s really going to try to play hostess (perhaps for the last time). I know this isn’t Charles and the Queen’s dynamic, but now is the moment for Charles – and Anne and Sophie – to step up and say “yes, we can do Christmas at Sandringham but you don’t have to play hostess, we’ll take over and organize everything.” I mean, I get that the staff does almost everything, but the Queen still wants things done a certain (Victorian) way, so her family should just insist that they’ll do everything her way and all she has to do is show up.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I’m honestly surprised they didn’t mention the Sussexes in this story. The articles of desperation for them to come because “this is the queens last Christmas” will be off the charts in the next month. Sigh!! Not looking forward to it.
I was surprised too. When i read the title i was convinced to find something along the line of: the sussexes are expected to be there.
You can bet that this article was the prep/setup for that onslaught.
This sounds like wishful thinking more than anything.
I think they need to chill on all these “the Queen totally expects to be at this event/do this thing” articles because then when she has to cancel it makes it seem like a much bigger deal, like she’s consistently getting worse each time she cancels. And it makes people feel lied to when they insist she’s totally going to be at this event because she’s doing so much better, and then it gets cancelled last minute. They keep setting up these expectations that she’ll be “better” by the climate change summit, and then by Remembrance Day, and then by Christmas, like each of these things are some kind of make or break moment when it comes to her health. They’re making it sound like she has an illness that is progressively getting worse and worse, like covid or the flu or pneumonia, as opposed to maybe she’s just old/tired or recovering from an injury/procedure.
Maybe instead of her getting worse and nearing death with each day and each cancelled event, she’s just maintaining: as in she’s not miraculously becoming younger and more spritely again, but that doesn’t mean she’s falling more and more ill each day. But the way they’re wording it makes it seem like there is something that she needs to “recover” from. I think it would be a much better PR strategy to just not say anything about events that are weeks or months away, to not build the expectation that she’ll be there and that she’ll be “better” and “back to normal” by then, because when you’re 95, there is no “normal” anymore. Each day is different, and that’s fine and to be expected. They’re setting it up so that people are going to be shocked and feel like they’ve been lied to if she actually dies before one of these events, because all we’ve been told is that she’s in super good spirits, she’s totally getting better, her doctors are just extra cautious, and everyone—including the Queen—are just sort of rolling their eyes at these doctors who keep insisting she “rest” when she actually feels totally fine.
There’s going to be SO much emotional blackmail to try to force Harry back for Christmas.
That’s their usual game isn’t it? They always lay on the guilt for the Sussex spending and breathing but not on the rest like say Andrew 🙄
I mean, what is involved in a queen hosting anything? It’s not as if she will be setting the table or vacuuming or up at 4:30 a.m. to start warming the turkey. No doubt she has a housekeeper and an estate manager who plan it all and dozens of servants who do all of the actual work. All she has to do is show up.
Exactly. She gives final supervision for the table setting and itinerary and that can be done in one hour.
I was thinking that, too.
But then I remembered that this crazy family doesn’t sit around in comfortable clothes for Christmas. Nope, it’s tiaras and ball gowns for Christmas Eve dinner, and since the queen is so stubborn about “tradition”, I don’t see her relaxing the rules. It’s either all or nothing.
This was immediate thought too – AS IF the queen has much/any involvement beyond showing up at this point. I think the bigger story is that she’s probably at home on her deathbed – why do we have any reason to believe she’s doing “light desk work” and hostesssing?
Yes, but you see Ibble Dibble cannot start without her.
OMG lol!!!
😭😭😭
Let the scheduling “Will They? Won’t they?” of the Sussexes return to the UK commence. The parting line this year will be “The Queen, who is still mourning the loss of her husband of 73 years, is so distraught to have not seen Archie in 2 years and not have met her namesake Lilibet! How cruel of the Sussexes not to attend Christmas” and then if the Sussexes show up at Christmas it’ll turn to “The Sussexes make Christmas all about themselves when the queen is still very much sick and grieving the loss of her husband of 73 years”.
I just find it so weird that one minute the media claim the royals want nothing to do with the Sussexes and the next they expect the Sussexes to bend over backwards to visit them. The RF have access to private jets,they can fly over to Montecito if they’re so desperate to see the kids and Harry bc we all know they don’t give a damn about Meghan.
I just really hope H&M skip Christmas this year. It’s just gonna be so much unnecessary drama. But I do see them visiting the queen as a detour for one day or two so she can meet Lili and avoid being slammed as the reason for her heartache. I know Harry would want her to meet Lili but I don’t see them spending Christmas with the wider family.
I’m not against the idea of them visiting the Queen ONLY on the down low. But I doubt they want to participate in her annual Christmas circus EVER again.
The Queen already met Lili..it’s called Zoom lol 🙃
@Polo: Exactly.
True. It’s not like the Queen will get down on the ground and play with them. Or they can sit with her for a spot of tea. Even at her Christmas celebrations, she separates the children from the adults. And when she is around them, it’s mainly for photo ops.
If the Sussexes actually did visit the queen on the down-low in the weeks before Christmas, the BM would still accuse them of not visiting and we KNOW BP and the damn queen will do absolutely nothing to correct the narrative. It will be Lilibet Naming Controversy 2.0, and the Sussexes can expect media beratings no matter what they do.
@Mandy
What frustrates me to no end is the f-cking audacity of “how cruel for not coming to see the queen for Christmas” when that old hag remained SILENT in the midst of the harshest abuse against Meghan when she was pregnant with those babies. 72 MPs did more for Meghan than anyone in that cult called a family, sans Harry. The real cold and cruel people are The Windsors. Who the hell wants to be around them and their passive aggressive and aggressive aggressive abuse?
The worst thing the bots say is Harry should “leave Meghan” and take the children to see “his family.” I find that just horrible.
It’s not like she’s going to be doing any of the preparations for these events. And the Royal Family is not a typical family so these gatherings are more for show rather than any love and togetherness. According to the press and the Palace, Harry and Meghan trashed the family, disrespected the Queen and Meghan is a bully so there should be absolutely no pleas for Harry and Meghan to visit the UK for Christmas.
Christmas is still weeks away. At 95, she really shouldn’t be making definite plans about the future (even something like Christmas). I’m sure she wants to continue tradition and have everyone around but those Christmases at Sandringham sound exhausting (both physically and mentally) so her own doctors may say no.
Mmhmm. My takeaway is that they are slowly introducing the idea that QE has an expiration date coming up in the near future. The hidden hospitalization, the pulling back, the whisper stories about a regency for Chuck, the counselorships, now this. It seems the frog in a pot, with the water temperature slowly rising until it’s boiling.
I get that they’re rich but it’s so privileged to be wanting to have a perfect Christmas when UK middle and lower class and frontliners are having to think of whether they will get their year end bonus or even time off. But I guess this is how it is.
She was totally committed to being at COP26 today too and we see how that turned out. This story was obviously put out there to get the public to forget that she’s declining and plants in their minds the idea that she’ll be just fine and very much alive for Christmas.
The reason the Sussexes weren’t mentioned is because Russell Myers who wrote the story has already been on television twice (Lorraine Talk Show) talking about the Sussexes coming for Christmas. I don’t feel sorry for the Queen. Last year she tried to force Sandringham staff into a monthlong bubble just so she could have Christmas her way. Covid cases are on the rise in the UK. What demands will be placed on staff this year in order to comply with the Queens wishes? Last year, staff had to threaten to quit to get that plan dropped. She is not running around planning and preparing. It’s done for her. As for the Sussexes, the idea of traveling internationally with unvaccinated children to a country with increasing cases and a Delta II variant seems like too much to expect. Especially with family that has offered only hostility. It doesn’t seem likely. It appears they’ve maintained good relations with the Queen but Christmas at Sandringham would exposed them to the whole family and make them targets if all kinds of leaks and tabloid narratives. Look what happened to Harry at Prince Philip’s funeral and he was in Quarantine 90% of the time. Why would they put themselves in such a vulnerable position. We’re not talking about a loving family gathering. In 2019, they preferred being in a rented home than being in Sandringham. Now they have a home of their own.
“Especially with family that has offered only hostility.”
+1
I cannot love this comment more. This times 💯 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Omg I doubt she’s going to make it to Christmas. And sandringham Christmas sounds awful
Yes, I made a similar comment to Sophia, at #7 above. The public is slowly being introduced to the idea that she has a limited time & is pulling back from duties, so frog in a pot situation.
With or without the competing Real Royal (TM) Christmas pap parade and boxing day shoot hosted by the Middletons?
Harry and Meghan won’t be the only ones to skip this. Zara and her family are never there, because she’s a paid supporter for an Australian racing event over the holidays.
I just want to say just because you are queen doesn’t mean you get to tell God what you plan to be around for. When it’s our time, it’s our time. Hope she does make it but yeah , it’s not something she can control
I hope the Queen is going to be ok but It’s not like she’s got to cook the meal & do the dishes like the rest of us when we host. LOL
Well I am sad too. This might be her last christmas – I hope everybody she will decide to invite will be there and make this her perfect xmas. I wonder what will be her allocution this year for xmas. I hope no photo analysis drama resulting from the frames on her desk…
At this rate she might not make it to Christmas. She is clearly not well enough to attend the COP conference, she had to cancel her Northern Ireland trip last minute, she’s been ordered to rest for two weeks. She clearly isn’t well enough to travel right now and Sandringham is about 3 and a half/four hours away from Windsor (I googlemapped!). She’s almost 100 years old, she shouldn’t be doing this much anyways. Had she retired and let Charles become king ten years ago, staff wouldn’t have to lie about her health and make false promises about her attending events she most likely won’t be able to attend.
My understanding is that she can’t hand over the reins to Charles without paying a hefty tax on her estate. Only if she is dead can Charles inherit tax free.
That’s only if she gives him the property at that point in time, which she wouldn’t have done. She could hold onto Sandringham and Balmoral and all other personal wealth and leave that to Charles in her will while still stepping back from her duties.
I wonder if Charles will keep up this Sandringham Christmas routine when Betty goes to that big Christmas Dinner in the Sky? I can’t see any of the family continuing to perform these old Victorian holiday rituals anymore and they are only doing it now out of respect for the Queen’s wishes.
He and Camilla would probably prefer a nice quiet day at Highgrove or at her home with her kids. Anne and her family can be together at Gatcombe, Kate and the kids can go to Bucklebury for all of Dec and Jan and Will can have Anmer to himself to celebrate with the neighbors.
Honestly, he should just give up Sandringham entirely and keep Highgrove, Windsor, Buckingham, his place in Wales, Birkhall, etc. Sandringham is already set up to be a tourist destination, it has a cafe and lovely gardens and is already open for tours for part of the year. Open it up for entire year, decorate it during Christmas like the queen has it decorated, heck turn part of it into an expensive hotel.
The royals have so much property and it really is ridiculous when you think about it, especially considering Sandringham is only used for about 6 weeks out of the year.
Charles was said not to go much with Camilla to Raymill, her home, when she wanted to be with her children and grandchildren. I don’t think he would spend time at Raymill with the Parker Bowles clan. Her first husband probably would want to join the family he had with Camilla during the holidays.
And of course stories like this will open up the floodgate of stories about whether Harry and Meghan will go and of course the Queen would want to see the great grandchildren and so on.