Queen pulls out of church service after catching cold

The Queen missed a Sunday church service at her Sandringham estate yesterday after suffering from a cold, Buckingham Palace said.

The monarch usually visits St Mary Magdalene Church every Sunday while staying at her Norfolk home.

But yesterday she did not attend church to the disappointment of dozens of well-wishers who gathered to get a glimpse of her.

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A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “The Queen was getting over the tail end of a cold. We are expecting business as usual next week.”

The Duke of Edinburgh, 91, walked the few hundred yards from the house to the church accompanied by the Duke of York, the Earl and the Countess of Wessex and their daughter Lady Louise and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Royal watcher Mary Relph, 78, said she has waited outside the church to spot the Queen every time the monarch has attended a service since 1988.

“I don’t remember her ever missing it,” she said. “I remember her going around the back once. I am disappointed but I hope she is OK.”

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The Queen traditionally spends the festive period with her family gathered around her at her Norfolk estate.

But this year there will be some empty spaces around the table on Christmas Day. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are planning to spend Christmas at the Middleton family home, while Prince Harry is serving as an Apache pilot in Afghanistan.

St James’s Palace said Prince William and his pregnant wife are to spend the day privately in Bucklebury, Berkshire, but the pair do plan to visit Sandringham at some point over the festive period.

Last year, hundreds of well-wishers turned out to see the Duchess of Cambridge attend her first Christmas Day service at church in Sandringham.

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The Duchess’s return to the bosom of her family comes after a testing few weeks for Kate who was forced to announce her pregnancy earlier than planned when she was admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in central London following a bout of severe morning sickness.

Days later she and Prince William found themselves offering their condolences to the family of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, 46, who was discovered hanging in her nurses’ quarters after answering a prank call made to the hospital by two Australian DJs impersonating the Queen and Prince of Wales.