The Queen is to celebrate Christmas at Windsor Castle, breaking with the tradition of spending festivities at Sandringham in Norfolk for a second year. Sources said the decision was a personal one taken after careful consideration and that it reflected her precautionary approach during the pandemic. Downing Street has been informed of her decision. The 95-year-old monarch is not expected to be alone. Family members are said to be planning to visit her on Christmas Day. Sources stressed that all appropriate guidelines would be followed and sensible precautions would be in place. Unlike at Sandringham, where members of the royal family gather and walk to St Mary Magdalene church, greeting members of the public outside, there is not expected to be any public church visit on 25 December. It is not yet known which family members she will welcome on the day. The Christmas Day plans for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, who reside at Highgrove in Gloucestershire, are still being confirmed. The plans of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are not yet publicly known. Last year they spent the festive season at Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, with their three children, George, eight, Charlotte, six, and Louis, three. The family members who live nearest to the Queen are the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Duke of York. It is the Queen’s first Christmas since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, aged 99, in April. Last year she and Prince Philip spent the day privately at Windsor Castle, where they had been shielding throughout the lockdowns. It was the first time in 32 years that the monarch was not with her family on the Sandringham estate. Last week the Queen cancelled her traditional Buckingham Palace pre-Christmas family party, at which she was expected to host 50 or so members of her extended family including Charles and Camilla, for the second year running as the Omicron variant sends Covid cases soaring. The Queen has been carrying out light duties only since 20 October, when concerns for her health were heightened after her doctors ordered her to rest and she spent a night in hospital undergoing tests.