Queen Elizabeth Changes Holiday Plans, Skips Christmas Tradition Amid Omicron Surge

Queen Elizabeth II has decided to change her holiday plans amid concerns about the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.

The Queen will spend the Christmas and New Year break at Windsor Castle, where she has stayed for most of the pandemic, instead of heading to her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, this year, People reported.

The 95-year-old monarch usually stays at Sandringham from late December to just after Feb. 6 — the date her father King George VI died and she became Queen nearly 70 years ago. However, an unnamed royal source told People that the Queen decided to rethink her holiday plans after "careful consideration" and as a "precautionary approach" amid the surge in COVID-19 cases across the U.K.

But while there won't be a family reunion in Sandringham this year, members of the royal family are expected to visit her at Windsor Castle throughout the duration of the holiday season, the source added.

With the cancellation of the Queen's Sandringham stay, the family walk to the local church on Christmas morning — which is witnessed by a crowd of royal watchers each year — also will not take place this year. The walk was also canceled last year due to the pandemic.

This will mark Queen Elizabeth's first Christmas without her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who died in April. He was 99.

Before the decision was made regarding whether the Queen would stay in Windsor, it was reported that the members of the royal family have been making plans to ensure that the Queen will have company during the holidays.

An unnamed source previously told Us Weekly that Prince William and Kate Middleton will bring their three children — Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3 — to see their great-grandmother on Christmas.

"It’s going to be a big family affair," the insider said. "George, Charlotte and Louis are absolutely delighted to be seeing their great grandmother in person again."

Normally, members of the royal family join the Queen at Sandringham, with guests typically arriving in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve.

They open their presents on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day, the whole family walks to church services at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the estate. They then head back to Sandringham House for a lunch of Norfolk turkey and other festivities.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who settled down in California after stepping back as working royals last year, are unlikely to travel to the U.K. for the holidays.

"There’s a lot that goes into the logistics and the planning of the family Christmas, so of course, staff knows that Harry and Meghan are not coming," an unnamed source told Page Six. "If they were, they would have communicated it to their family by now."