Reports indicate that the royal Christmas at Sandringham has been cancelled for the second year in a row, leaving the Queen and the royals disappointed and marking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s second Christmas in North America.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but this year the pandemic has once again hampered holiday plans in the U.K. and around the world. Despite royal watchers hoping to catch a glimpse of little Prince Louis making his first Christmas walk with the rest of the Cambridge family, it looks like it’ll be another royal-less Christmas day.

This is disappointing for not only all the royals, but most importantly Her Majesty the Queen.

Having lost her husband of 73 years in April, the Queen will spend her first Christmas without him alone and away from the rest of her family.

There’s some hope that this could change, but it is unlikely. 

Per The Times of London: “Plans for the Queen’s first Christmas without Prince Philip hang in the balance after the surge in Omicron infections.

“She had hoped to return to Sandringham after spending last Christmas at Windsor in a bubble with her husband but the Palace has drawn up a back-up option of remaining again at Windsor. This time, at least, family would be permitted to visit.

“If the trip to Sandringham does go ahead it is unlikely that the royal family will carry out its traditional walk to the nearby St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day, for fear of drawing the usual crowds.”

As older people sometimes need more attention and affection from those around them, almost as if they were a child, the loss of this holiday tradition would be detrimental to the Queen’s sense of not only Christmas spirit, but could damage her mental and physical health as well. 

Not only is this another year without most of her family surrounding her, it has also now been over two years since Her Majesty has seen little Archie Mountbatten-Windsor in person as well. 

In 2019, citing the need to spend time away from the rest of the royal family and the pressures of the monarchy, Prince Harry and Meghan spent Christmas that year plotting and scheming their plans for Megxit in Canada. 

As a result of that, and the pandemic, Archie has not been to the U.K. since then and his sister has never stepped foot inside the country her father once called home.

The ongoing pandemic gives Harry and Meghan the perfect excuse to stay away yet again from the royal family, though they are loving their Montecito community so much that they donated to a local charity Christmas parade for the elitist community.

Though the royals are glad Harry and Meghan are not in the picture this year yet again, it is a sad situation for the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and the rest of the family. They would probably love to spend some time with Harry, Archie and Lilibet this year, but if Sussex family left California together then Meghan would lose a smidge of control.

That cannot happen, so the royals are stuck without seeing their extended relatives this year and wondering what Meghan will do to try and update the rest of the family yet again. 

Christmas is about family, and even royals love and enjoy seeing their relatives. It’s unfortunate that Harry and Meghan don’t feel the same.