Queen Elizabeth II will spend her first Christmas season without Prince Philip at Windsor Castle. The 95-year-old monarch will not travel to her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, where the royal family usually spends Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The decision comes as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to skyrocket in the U.K. as the omicron variant spreads. Queen Elizabeth has also canceled recent public appearances due to her own health concerns.
The queen usually heads to Norfolk in late December and stays there until just after Feb. 7, the date she became queen after King George VI died in 1952. However, a royal source told PEOPLE Monday that the Queen will stay at Windsor Castle instead. This was a personal decision taken after “careful consideration” and is reflective of a “precautionary approach,” a royal source told the magazine. Members of the royal family will travel to Windsor to visit her during the holidays. However, the royal family will not be walking to church on Christmas morning.
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The decision to stay at Windsor came a few days after Queen Elizabeth canceled the royal pre-Christmas lunch event. The family usually gathers for lunch at Windsor Castle to see the queen before she leaves for Sandringham. Before she decided not to go to Norfolk at all, the royal family began making plans to ensure Queen Elizabeth would not spend the holidays alone.
Queen Elizabeth also spent Christmas and New Year’s Day at Windsor Castle last year during the pandemic. It was her last holiday season with the Duke of Edinburgh. Philip died in April at age 99, over 73 years after he married Queen Elizabeth. The royal family has also been keeping a close eye on Queen Elizabeth’s health. In October, she was hospitalized for tests, and her doctors asked her to rest for a few days. In November, she missed a Remembrance Day service after she sprained her back.
On Monday, the U.K. set another daily case record again with 91,743 new cases reported. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not announced new nationwide restrictions, but he said his government must “reserve the possibility” that new rules may be imposed as the omicron variant spreads before Christmas. “We are looking at all kinds of things to keep Omicron under control and we will rule nothing out,” Johnson said after a cabinet meeting, reports the BBC. “But at the moment, what I think we want people to focus on is exercising caution – so ventilation, masks in the appropriate places, all the usual stuff about washing hands, but remember how contagious Omicron really is.”
