Royal Family greet crowds after Christmas Day service

King Charles and Queen Camilla attended a Christmas Day church service at Sandringham, with the Prince and Princess of Wales and other royals by their side. Excited crowds descended on St Mary Magdalene Church, Norfolk, to get a glimpse of the King and his family. Prince George and Catherine and their three children, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis welcomed the King and Queen. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was unable to attend, but his children Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were in attendance, as were their husbands.

The Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Tindall, along with her family, attended Edinburgh's Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. The Christmas morning service is a big event in the royal calendar, bringing together the Royal Family for a public appearance, with crowds and photographers capturing the moment. People from around the UK, Europe, and the United States waited from 21:00 on Christmas Eve to see the Royal Family on Christmas Day. The Royal Family assembled outside the church and were welcomed by Reverend Canon Dr Paul Rhys Williams shortly before 11:00. Speakers from inside the church relayed the sermon to the audience outside, who waited for the chance to speak to the royals afterwards.

The Royal Family emerged from the church shortly after the service and spent time with members of the public who had lined up outside for short stretches of grass outside. Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and their younger brother Prince Louis, all three of the younger royals, interacted with the crowds on their own. Any of the crowd could be seen taking Christmas cards and flowers from their families, chatting to them, and shaking their hands. Catherine had in-depth discussions with several people as she clutched bouquets of flowers that had been gifted to her. The royals are spending Christmas at their Sandringham home, which has been the family's traditional holiday gathering place since 1988.

The Sandringham service takes place just hours before the King's traditional Christmas message is delivered in Westminster Abbey this year. It comes as a result of his good news earlier this month about responding well to cancer treatment. In a message broadcast at 15:00 on Christmas Day, the King is supposed to address the pilgrimage of life and the lessons it can teach about the day's problems.

The pre-recorded Christmas piano duetfrom inside Windsor Castle on Christmas Eve was broadcast on the Catherine and Princess Charlotte's pre-Recorde For Catherine's Christmas carol performance, the mother and daughter sat together to perform a piece they loved by Scottish composer Erland Cooper. Catherine and a then unknown person playing the piano were shown in a video preview ahead of the program, captioned a special duet..

Although their children attended the Christmas Day church service, neither Andrew nor his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were there. Following weeks of intense scrutiny over the former prince's links to paedophil financier Jeffrey Epstein, King Charles announced in October that he would strip his younger brother Andrew of his positions and made the changes in October. After a photograph of Andrew lying on the laps of women was released by the US government as part of the so-called Epstein files, his connection to Epstein came under scrutiny again this week. Andrew was one of the many well-known figures to be included in the files, and being in them does not imply a criminal conviction. Andrew has never denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Andrew will also leave his Royal Lodge home in Windsor and move to an undisclosed house on the Sandringham estate, which is privately owned by the King in the New Year.