Royals attend Sandringham’s Christmas Day service

Alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales and other royals, the King and Queen attended a church service on Christmas Day in Sandringham.

As the monarch and his family entered St. Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk, ecstatic crowds watched. After receiving a cancer diagnosis herself, a woman who had previously battled ovarian cancer told the BBC that she was able to wish the King and Catherine well.

Following the discovery of an accused Chinese spy’s connections to the royal family, it was reported last week that Prince Andrew would not be attending the yearly event.

The service was held just hours before the King’s Christmas message, which would be broadcast from a former hospital chapel, was scheduled to air.

The three children of the prince and princess, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, joined the King, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Catherine, Princess of Wales.

The Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and their kids, Lady Louise Windsor and the Earl of Wessex, were also part of the walking party.

The Reverend Canon Dr. Paul Rhys Williams welcomed the royals at the base of the church’s steps. O Come, All Ye Faithful was the first song sung inside, followed by the National Anthem.

A significant occasion on the royal calendar is the church service on Christmas morning, which brings the Royal Family together for a public appearance. Crowds and photographers document the event.

The royals then celebrate Christmas at their Sandringham estate, where the family has been gathered during the season since 1988.

For the first time this year, Shelly from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said she had joined the masses to show her support for the King and Catherine.

Both the King and the princess confirmed their cancer diagnoses earlier this year, one in February and the other in March.

Because of Catherine and Charles’s journey, Shelly told the BBC, “I wanted to turn a bad into a positive and I wanted to be here, really, for them.” Shelly was spending Christmas alone.

“Catherine has had a very difficult year, and I would like to offer my support.”

Diane from Oldham, who shook hands with the King, Prince William, Catherine, and their youngest son, Prince Louis, was also there in the audience.

Speaking to the royals meant a lot to her as a survivor of ovarian cancer, she told the BBC.

Diane claimed that she was able to wish Catherine and the King a healthy new year and that she had received “beautiful reactions” to her letters regarding cancer.

“I wanted to be here to see the whole family and watch them celebrate Christmas because people do not realize how [disease] affects you as a family.”

Their daughter Princess Beatrice, along with her husband, property mogul Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and his son Christopher Woolf from a previous marriage, attended the funeral, although Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, the Duchess of York, did not.

After Yang Tengbo, also known as Chris Yang, was identified as a suspected Chinese spy who had been prohibited from visiting the UK, Prince Andrew’s absence was verified.

Judges of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission court described the guy as having an “extraordinary degree of trust” with the prince, despite reports that he was involved in approaching influential people.

According to Prince Andrew’s office, Mr. Yang and he had never discussed anything delicate.

The prince no longer participates in frontline royal tasks and is rarely seen in public since expressing regret for his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The monarch will deliver his customary speech later on Christmas Day at 15:00 GMT, as is customary on radio and television.

For the first time in over ten years, the Christmas message was recorded from a location other than a royal house or estate. It was recorded earlier this month in the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London.

Middlesex Hospital’s chapel used to be in Fitzrovia.