George and Charlotte join family to celebrate Christmas at morning service - Sydney Morning Herald

Sandringham: Queen Elizabeth II and her close family celebrated Christmas with a morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church near her rural retreat at Sandringham in eastern England.

It was a festive event on Wednesday as the Queen was joined for the first time by Prince George, 6, and Princess Charlotte, 4, the two eldest children of Prince William and his wife, Kate. They left one-year-old Prince Louis at home.

Prince George, 6, and Princess Charlotte, 4, walk hand-in-hand with their parents Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge,Credit:AP

George and Charlotte walked to church hand-in-hand with their parents. Prince Charles, their grandfather, walked next to them.

The Queen arrived in a Bentley with Charles' wife, Camilla. Her elderly husband, Prince Philip, stayed at home.

He was discharged from a hospital Tuesday after treatment for an undisclosed ailment. Philip, 98, has retired from public duties.

Prince Andrew avoided the limelight on Christmas Day by skipping the royal family's traditional mid-morning walk to church and attending an earlier service.

The Queen's second son has kept a low profile since he stepped down from royal duties last month in the wake of a scandal over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He was filmed walking along a path with his brother Prince Charles to church in time for a 9am service on Christmas Day.

Prince Andrew, in the foreground, and Prince Charles attended an earlier church service.Credit:PA

Andrew did not join other members of the family walking along a road to the 11am service - one of the staples of the royal calendar.

Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, and their 7-month-old son, Archie, did not attend. They are spending the holiday in Canada with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland.

The royals were greeted by several hundred well-wishers who had gathered outside the church grounds.

The Queen's traditional pre-recorded Christmas message will be broadcast throughout Britain and the Commonwealth nations on Wednesday afternoon.

Excerpts released ahead of time reveal that the Queen plans to acknowledge it has been a challenging year.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte greet well-wishers.Credit:AP

Talking about the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, Elizabeth says: "The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference."

She is thought to be referring both to Britain's laborious exit from the European Union, which is now almost certainly going to happen on January 31 after voters gave the pro-Brexit Conservative Party a comfortable majority in Parliament, and to the royal family's difficulties.

The problems this year included Andrew's retreat from public duties following a disastrous TV interview in which he defended his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and failed to show empathy for Epstein's young female victims.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stand with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte outside the St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham.Credit:AP

The family has also endured what many close observers think is a rift between William and Harry. Both Harry and Meghan have complained about constant scrutiny by the media as they settle into family life with Archie.