A beaming King Charles has been pictured in Sandringham on a crisp winter Sunday morning ahead of the Christmas festivities.
Wrapped up warm in a long brown coat, with a charcoal grey suit on underneath, the King accessorised with brown shoes and brown gloves as he strolled towards St Mary Magdalene Church for his Sunday church visit before Christmas.
Giving onlookers a wave, King Charles attended solo without Queen Camilla by his side. Before heading into church, he had a short chat and walked with the Reverend.
In just three days time, His Majesty will be joined by wider members of the Royal Family for the annual morning walk from Sandringham House to church.
It is understood Prince William, Princess Kate, and their three children are already in Norfolk, residing at their home in the 19th-Century House, Amner Hall.
Each year, members of the Royal Family gather at Sandringham to spend the big day together, starting with a gift-giving and a formal dinner on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day then consists of breakfast, the famous walk to church for the Christmas service, and then back to Sandringham House for Christmas Dinner and games.
The guest list will be missing some key royals who, for one reason or another, will not be attending. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be at Sandringham with the Royal Family this year, marking the sixth year they have been absent from the celebrations.
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will be spending Christmas at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, after the Duke faced criticism over his association with the alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo – despite insisting he never shared anything of a sensitive” nature with the businessman. The alleged spy has also denied all accusations made by the Home Office.
Andrew’s daughter, Princess Eugenie, will be spending Christmas with her husband, Jack Brookbank’s family, along with their two sons August and Ernest.
However, Princess Beatrice, her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, daughter Sienna, and stepson ‘Wolfie’ will be attending Christmas in Norfolk, following doctor’s orders in case travelling endangers her baby. Beatrice, 36, is in the final few months of her pregnancy with her second child, and is expecting the baby “in early spring”.
This year, the Royal Family is gearing up for a big Christmas Day with 45 family members expected to join in the celebrations at the Sandringham Estate.
It has been a tough year for the King who has battled a cancer diagnosis, and the monarch’s cancer treatment will reportedly continue in 2025, almost a year after it was announced he had been diagnosed with the disease.
A Buckingham Palace source told Sky News the King’s “treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year”.
On Friday the King joked that he was “still alive” during a visit with the Queen to Walthamstow, north-east London. Asked “How are you?” by a Sikh faith representative Harvinder Rattan, the king smiled as he replied: “I’m still alive.”
