King Charles and Queen Camilla lead Royal Family contingent on Christmas Day as Andrew absent

These include Prince William and Princess Kate, and their three children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.

Two royals that are absent, however, are Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, who have been engulfed in scandal following their highly-publicised features in the Epstein files.

The Sandringham church walk remains the monarchy’s most prominent annual Christmas appearance outside the King’s Christmas broadcast.

It is a fixture that blends public visibility with private family tradition: the royals attend church on the estate, greet well-wishers and then return to Sandringham House for the rest of the day’s celebrations.

Christmas at Sandringham also operates to a long-established rhythm.

Members of the Royal Family typically arrive in Norfolk ahead of Christmas Day for the family gathering, with Sandringham then serving as a base for the holiday period.

The church service itself is a familiar centrepiece, and it has repeatedly been treated as a barometer moment by royal watchers because it offers a clear view of which relatives are spending Christmas with the monarch.

The King and Queen’s presence also comes at the end of a week that has seen royal coverage dominated by seasonal broadcasting and Christmas messaging.

This includes Princess Kate’s Together at Christmas carol service, filmed earlier this month at Westminster Abbey and aired on Christmas Eve.

That programme placed its emphasis on community support and quiet acts of service, themes which sit alongside the more traditional symbolism of Sandringham’s Christmas Day service.

After the church service, the Royal Family will return to Sandringham House to continue Christmas Day privately.

The King’s Christmas broadcast later in the afternoon remains the other defining public moment of the day, with the message historically used by the sovereign to reflect on the year and speak to the country and the Commonwealth.

This year's speech was filmed inside Westminster Abbey and is expected to focus on the theme of pilgrimage.

The Sandringham church walk is, by contrast, a brief and deliberately simple public appearance.

However, its significance endures because it brings the Royal Family into view in a way that feels grounded in ritual and continuity.

The King and Queen once again placed themselves at the front of the family group for the estate’s Christmas morning tradition.