Buckingham Palace says monarch is still recovering from heavy cold at Sandringham

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Queen may miss the annual New Year’s Day church service at Sandringham after Buckingham Palace said the 90-year-old could still be too unwell to attend.

A spokeswoman said: “The Queen is continuing to recover from her heavy cold and is still in the residence of Sandringham. We probably will not know what is happening until the morning.”

Queen uses Christmas message to urge Britons to 'take a deep breath' Read more

The monarch has not been seen in public for 11 days since she and Prince Philip caught heavy colds, forcing them to cancel the traditional train journey to their north Norfolk estate for Christmas.



Instead, the royal couple were flown directly from the palace by helicopter, with the Queen missing the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church for the first time in 28 years.



Philip, 95, was well enough to go to the 25 December service with Prince Charles, Prince Harry and other family members before reportedly joining the traditional Boxing Day pheasant shoot.



If the Queen does attend church, she may be accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple and their two children spent Christmas with Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, in Berkshire.

After a tweet from a fake BBC News account claimed earlier this week that the Queen had died, the palace was forced to issue a statement confirming she was still alive.