LONDON — For the first time in nearly 30 years, Queen Elizabeth II failed to attend a Christmas Day church service near her English country estate because of what Buckingham Palace described as a persistent cold.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday that the 90-year-old queen “continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery.”

The queen, who had already been forced to change her travel plans for the holiday period because of the illness, planned to “participate in the royal family Christmas celebrations during the day,” according to the statement.

The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, 95, were scheduled to travel on Wednesday by train to their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, near England’s eastern coast.