Prince George and Princess Charlotte join royals at church

Kate Middleton and Princess Charlotte joined future kings Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George as they walked to church on Christmas Day.

George, six, and four-year-old Charlotte walked the short distance from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene Church hand in hand with their parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Prince of Wales walked alongside them but one-year-old Prince Louis stayed at the house.

The five were captured attending the service by Karen Anvil, who took a brilliant picture of the Cambridges and Sussexes two years ago.

Scroll for video 

Others attending the main morning service included Princess Beatrice and her fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

The 93-year-old Queen, wearing a red coat and hat, arrived at the church in a maroon Bentley with the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 98, who was discharged from hospital on Christmas Eve, was at Sandringham but did not attend church.

He had spent four nights at the King Edward VII Hospital in London to receive treatment for a ‘pre-existing condition’.

Philip, who retired from public duties in 2017, did not attend last year’s church service either despite being in good health at the time.

The Duke of York, who has had a tumultuous end to the year after his disastrous appearance on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, walked side by side with Charles to a service at 9am but did not attend the 11am service.

Andrew’s attempt to explain his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein backfired and he was heavily criticised for showing a lack of empathy towards Epstein’s victims and remorse over his friendship with the disgraced financier.

The beleaguered Duke of York cut a solemn figure as he walked alongside Prince Charles on what is his first public outing since his controversial Newsnight interview.

In recent months the Duke of York has stepped back from royal duties and been dropped by a number of charities in the furore that followed his BBC interview and friendship with the paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

But the brothers walked side-by-side as they headed into St Mary Magdalene Church for the 9am service.

The Queen was driven to her Norfolk estate this morning without her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, who was discharged from hospital in London yesterday. 

The Earl of Wessex and his daughter Lady Louise Windsor also strolled into St Mary Magdalene Church together.

Hundreds of well-wishers have been queuing since the early hours to catch a glimpse of members of the royal family, and waved excitedly as the Queen left with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and was driven to the royal family’s traditional 11am service.

Today is the first time the younger royals have attended, with Prince George and Princess Charlotte going into church alongside their parents, William and Kate. At six and four they are now old enough to sit through the service.

Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice was also joined by fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi for the first time at the church.

Last year, the Duke of York arrived for the service with his mother.  

Andrew stepped back from public life following November’s ‘car crash’ BBC interview in which he attempted to explain his friendship with Epstein.

He repeatedly denied claims that he had sex with one of the disgraced financier’s victims, Virginia Roberts, when she was just 17. Miss Roberts then accused him of lying.

The Queen’s second son also faced calls to speak to the FBI about his relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell in August awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Andrew was effectively sacked by his mother after his older brother Charles warned her that the scandal threatened to engulf the monarchy.  

As the Queen is head of the Church of England, it is a key part of royal celebrations.

Following the service, the Windsors enjoy a festive lunch back at Sandringham House and then settle down together to watch the Queen’s Christmas Day speech.

In her broadcast to the nation and the Commonwealth, the Queen is to acknowledge the ‘bumpy’ path the royal family and the nation has experienced over the past 12 months.

But the biggest ‘bump’ faced by the Royal Family was the fallout from the Duke of York’s disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew, 59, is expected to watch his mother’s televised broadcast to the nation with the rest of the family at Sandringham tomorrow.

She will say: ‘Small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding.

‘The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference.’

The comments are believed to be her first public reference to the turmoil faced by her family this year.

She dubbed 1992 an ‘annus horribilis’ in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession.

In that year Charles separated from Princess Diana, Andrew split from his wife Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne divorced Captain Mark Phillips, and a fire engulfed Windsor Castle. 

Although the Duke of Edinburgh was discharged from hospital on Christmas Eve, he has not attended the church service on the Queen’s private estate in Norfolk today.

The duke was admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London on Friday and spent four nights undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ongoing health issue.

The 98-year-old, who received minor injuries after being involved in a car crash near the estate in January, missed the service at St Mary Magdalene Church last year to stay at home, despite being in good health at the time.

It is also unlikely that the Duke of York will arrive with the Queen, as he did in 2018, amid the fallout from a disastrous television interview about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew stepped down from public duties for the foreseeable future following his appearance on BBC Newsnight, when he was heavily criticised for showing little remorse over his friendship with convicted sex offender Epstein.

In the interview, the duke denied claims he slept with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, on three separate occasions.

In another departure from last year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not walk into the church side by side with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Harry and Meghan will be celebrating Archie Mountbatten-Windsor’s first festive season with the duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, instead of joining the royal family’s traditional celebration in Norfolk.

Their choice to spend Christmas away from Sandringham follows claims of a rift, first between Meghan and Kate, which appeared to have been been quashed as they arrived together at last year’s service, and then between Harry and brother William.

In an ITV television documentary broadcast in October, Harry, when asked about the situation, said he loved his brother dearly but they were ‘on different paths at the moment’. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wish their Instagram fans Merry Christmas from Canada – as they shun service at Sandringham with the rest of the royals

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have wished their Instagram followers a happy Christmas from Canada amid clamour for them to return home and join the embattled Royals at Sandringham.

At 9am – which would have been the early hours across the Atlantic where the couple are still thought to be – they wrote: ‘Wishing you all a very merry Christmas – their Royal Highness the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.’

The post, which was accompanied by emojis of a Christmas tree, Santa and a snowman, came as the Queen and other members of the Royal Family prepared to head to church in Sandringham.

Harry and Meghan have stonewalled calls for them to cut short their six-week trip and return home in the wake of Prince Philip’s spell in hospital.

Last month, the Sussexes and eight-month-old Archie secretly flew to Canada for a holiday.

Since then, the Royals have endured a tough time as Prince Andrew continues to bunker down amid a swirling storm over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and Philip recovers from a four-night stint in the King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, London.

Some in the Family have privately urged Harry and Meghan to jet back to show support, according to the Sun.

But the couple is seemingly staying put in North America and is ignoring calls for their return.

The couple have missed the Queen’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace and will miss the monarch’s annual get together at her private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

It comes after a family Christmas card of the royal couple smiling in front of a Christmas tree, with Archie’s adorable face staring down the camera lens, was revealed.

The Duchess, a former actress, lived and worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and the couple were famously pictured together when Meghan joined her then-boyfriend Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games in the Canadian city.

Buckingham Palace had previously announced the Sussexes intended to take a six-week break from duties and would not spend Christmas at Sandringham with the Royal Family.