Princess Anne shares the reason of absence at royal family christmas service

• Anne didn’t show up because she had a cold.
• Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, two of Anne’s children, walked with their families
• Zara, who is 41 years old, was there with her husband Mike Tindall

Princess Anne stayed at home on Christmas morning.

Sunday’s traditional Christmas church service at Sandringham with the royal family was clearly missing the 72-year-old Princess Royal. Hello! says that Anne didn’t show up because she had a cold.

Several members of the royal family got together at Sandringham for the first Christmas without Queen Elizabeth. She died in September at age 96. Princess Anne wasn’t there, though.

Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, two of Anne’s children, walked with their families to St. Mary Magdalene Church in the morning. The church is close to Sandringham House.

Zara, who is 41 years old, was there with her husband Mike Tindall daughters Mia, 8, and Lena, 4. Their son Lucas, who is only 1 years old, was probably thought to be too young to go. Peter, who is 45 years old, walked with his 11-year-old daughter Savannah and 10-year-old daughter Isla.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Anne missed the royal family’s traditional walk, which was the first in three years. However, she will end the year with a big accomplishment.

According to the numbers, Princess Anne had 214 engagements, more than her brother King Charles III, who had 181 engagements. Anne is the most busy member of the royal family for the second year in a row. She had 387 engagements in 2021, more than Charles, who was 74 at the time and went to 385 events.

Anne also had some personal responsibilities this year, like bringing her mother’s coffin back to the U.K. from Scotland, where the monarch died at Balmoral Castle on September 8.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace after Queen Elizabeth’s death, Princess Anne said, “I was lucky to spend the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life with her.” “It has been a pleasure and an honour to go with her on her last trips.”

Princess Anne was the only member of the royal family who was a woman who went to the Queen’s funeral. She also made history as the first woman to take part in the Vigil of the Princes, when the late monarch’s four children stood watch over their mother’s coffin at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Later, when the Queen was lying in state at Westminster Hall, King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward did the same thing again.