ROYALS RALLY AROUND THE QUEEN

This year marks the first festive season for Her Majesty without her beloved husband

For most of her 95 years, the festive season has without doubt been the most treasured time on the Queen’s calendar.

She decamps to her beloved Sandringham Estate – a property that was also a favourite of her father, King George VI, who passed away in his sleep there in 1952 – throughout the duration of the British winter, where the royals traditionally gather for the holidays.

It’s here that fans are usually treated to a brief sighting of the family on Christmas morning as they attend the nearby church, St Mary Magdalene.

MISSING PHILIP

This year, though, there will be one person missing – the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Sources tell Woman’s Day the Queen’s preparations for her annual family gathering have been “noticeably tinged with sadness” for the monarch, after Philip died aged 99 in April. They had been married for 73 years, with the Queen marking their 74th anniversary last month alone.

“Toward the end of Philip’s life, they whiled away countless hours together on Sandringham estate, where he took to living in a small hunter’s lodge away from the main property,” says a source.

“It was a precious time for her, when they sat together on his porch under blankets and looked back on all they had created together.

“She will no doubt feel emotional returning to Sandringham, where Philip was last his active, witty self, and where her darling papa passed away so many years before that.”