Are the Royal family coming to Sandringham for Christmas?

For Sandringham House has been closed to visitors until New Year, along with its gardens and the nearby church.

While arrangements are not usually confirmed until a week or two before December 25, the properties are usually closed before the royals come to stay in them.

An advisory note on Sandringham's website states: "Sandringham House, Gardens and St Mary Magdalene Church are now closed until 2024, the Royal Parkland and Courtyard facilities remain open until Christmas Eve."

Members of the Royal Family including the late Queen, Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales at Sandringham in 1990 (Image: Newsquest)Protection officers carry out extensive security sweeps both indoors and out, while aides and estate staff organise for every festive detail from the tree grown on the Sandringham Estate which will form the centre piece in the great ballroom, to finalising menus.

In the event the King and his extended family decide to see out yule amid the pinewoods, they will also find themselves at the centre of a unique Norfolk tradition beamed around the world on Christmas Day.

Thousands of well-wishers pack into Sandringham Park to greet them when they attend morning service.

Well-wishers wait in the rain to greet the Royal Family at Sandringham in 2007 (Image: Ian Burt)

READ MORE: The Royals at Sandringham for Christmas in 2022

READ MORE: How tradition of the King's Christmas Speech began in Norfolk

READ MORE: How the Royals really spend Christmas in Norfolk

Crowds greet the Royal Family as they walk to church through the snow on Christmas Day in 2010 (Image: Ian Burt)Crowds line the path that leads from the house to the tiny carr stone church where generations of Kings and Queens have worshipped along with their families.

Those attending, apart from Charles III and Queen Camilla, are likely to include the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The King, then the Prince of Wales, chats to well-wishers at Sandringham in 2007 (Image: Ian Burt)Also present will be the Princess Royal and her family, along with the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their two children.

Christmas Day was one of the rare occasions when the entire Royal Family would be seen together in one place.

But recent upheavals involving Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, may mean he and his family are unlikely to attend.

Family members usually arrive on Christmas Eve, when presents are usually also opened in a nod to the royals' German roots.

Last December's gathering was the first following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, 2022.