Some of her nearest and dearest were missing, including her husband of 72 years, but Queen Elizabeth II carried on with the annual royal Christmas traditions Wednesday by going to church with the rest of her family. Her annual Christmas speech was broadcast later in the day.
Pictures from Sandringham, the royal country retreat in Norfolk, showed members of the royal family bundled up for warmth and trooping from Sandringham house to the little church, St. Mary Magdalene, along a short walkway lined with media cameras and fans.
Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, who was admitted to a London hospital on Friday for planned "observation and treatment" for a pre-existing condition, was released Tuesday morning and returned to Sandringham but did not make the trip to church on Christmas morning. In years past, he's walked with the rest of the family.
Buckingham Palace said Philip was discharged from the hospital by his doctor and was back at Sandringham by 11 a.m. local time. "His Royal Highness would like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes," the palace said.
Philip, who has been retired from public life since 2017, lives mostly at one of the houses on the Sandringham estate. On Friday, after the queen arrived by train from London for her annual holiday break (until early February), he was flown by helicopter to King Edward VII Hospital in London.
On Monday, Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, 71, visited a flood-hit village in Yorkshire, England, and told reporters his father was "all right" but at "that age things don't work so well."
On Wednesday, the little stars of the royal Christmas trek were first-timers Prince George of Cambridge, 6, and his sister, Princess Charlotte, 4, making their Christmas-at-Sandringham debut with their parents, Prince William and Duchess Kate of Cambridge. (Baby Prince Louis, 1, was not with them, probably due to his age.)
George was wearing a navy-blue blazer, pants and matching sweater over a button-up shirt with tie as he held his father's hand, and Charlotte wore tights and a forest-green peacoat that coordinated with her mother's hat. She accepted several gifts from the crowd of onlookers. Kate's long tan, belted coat had fur at the collar and cuffs, and her dark-green pumps matched her headwear. A calf-length green dress peeked out as she stooped to talk to Charlotte and the crowd.
Walking alongside the young family to the 11 a.m. service was Prince Charles, though he walked with his younger brother, Prince Andrew the Duke of York, 59, to the 9 a.m. service. Prince Andrew has stepped back from royal duties due to a scandal over his former friendship with American convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He remains a member of the royal family and typically spends Christmas with them at Sandringham.
Andrew's two daughters, Princess Beatrice, 31, and Princess Eugenie, 29, also were there, as they usually are: Eugenie was with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, whom she married in October 2018, and Beatrice was with her fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi; they are expected to marry next summer.
Also missing were Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex, and their 7-month-old baby, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who are on an extended break from royal duties. According to media reporters, they are spending Christmas with her mother, Doria Ragland, in Canada, where American-born Meghan lived while appearing in "Suits," before she married Harry in May 2018.
The queen, 93, wearing a stately red hat and matching calf-length red coat, was driven to church, as per usual. Her black gloves coordinated with her low heels, handbag and an adornment on her hat. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles' wife, rode with her.
After Christmas service at the church, the family typically returns to a festive holiday lunch and then settles in to watch the annual broadcast of the queen's Christmas address to the kingdom and the Commonwealth, which is the only official speech the queen writes herself without government oversight.
The queen's Christmas address
This year’s address, filmed in advance by the BBC in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, focused on a theme of reconciliation in the life of Jesus and in marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day in June.
"The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference," she says, talking about the need for forgiveness.
She called on the British to overcome their divisions after a year "full of pitfalls," interpreted as a muffled reference to Brexit tearing apart the country and the scandals shaking her own family.
She points to the D-Day anniversary – she was among numerous world leaders who marked the day in a June commemoration – as an example of how former fierce enemies can overcome the past to move forward together.
More: Queen Elizabeth II to acknowledge year 'full of pitfalls' in annual Christmas Day speech
"For the 75th anniversary of that decisive battle, in a true spirit of reconciliation, those who had formerly been sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations either side of the Channel, putting past differences behind them," she said. "By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together, we honor the freedom and democracy once won for us at so great a cost.”
The queen, wearing a royal blue cashmere dress and the Prince Albert brooch, spoke sitting near tables laden with photographs, including of her husband; her father, King George VI; Charles and Camilla; and Will and Kate and their children.
Another photo featured her with the Apollo 11 astronauts, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, who visited Buckingham Palace after their moon landing in 1969. (The meeting, part of the hero astronauts' post-mission world tour, was featured on a recent episode of "The Crown.")
As usual, the media probed for meaning in the selection of pictures, noting that in previous years pictures of Harry and Meghan and Prince Andrew were included.
In a treat for royal fans, new pictures of the queen and her three direct heirs, Charles, William and George, were released Saturday showing rare snaps of four generations of monarch and future monarchs in the same room.
The four gathered in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace, decorated for Christmas, to help prepare Christmas puddings (a fruitcake-like dessert) to highlight the launch of a charity that supports the British armed forces and veterans at Christmas parties around the country.
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