It follows England chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty’s advice to prioritise events “that really matter” to avoid the risk of infection.
The event had been due to take place early next week at Windsor Castle.
The Queen’s decision comes as families across the UK consider their Christmas plans in the light of the country’s biggest Covid surge yet, with 78,610 cases reported on Wednesday.
The 95-year-old monarch usually hosts the lunch each year for her wider family before she departs for her Christmas stay at Sandringham in Norfolk.
The pre-Christmas celebration gives the head of state a chance to catch up with relatives who are unable to travel to her country retreat for Christmas Day.
Along with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, guests usually include the Queen’s cousins - the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent.
Last year’s gathering was also cancelled because of Covid.
I’m glad she did this - she isn’t in the best of health, yet I think she needs her family more than ever this year because she lost her husband. Anyway, glad she is doing the right thing.
What makes her gatherings any different from the thousands of other families who must cancel due to Covid? No one special gets a pat on the back for doing the right thing. Fair is fair.
The media have been watching and waiting to see what the Queen would do - they now have to report that the dinner has been cancelled. Much to their disappointment I shouldn’t wonder because there isn’t much else they can say, which would have been very different had it gone ahead! The media spend their time waiting for someone to slip up and if the dinner had gone ahead they would have had a field day.
But your opening post and link was specifically related to PRE Christmas gatherings or dinners as the Queen’s, which she has very sensibly cancelled.
Yesterday’s thread I posted on was about actual Christmas family get-togethers, according to the last minute Tier system.
I had one branch of my family excluded as they were ‘Red’ and another were able to join us as they were ‘Amber’ …
I think she has done the right thing, I’m sure quite a few will follow suit, unfortunately there are always the selfish ones, who only think of themselves and blow everyone else.
…she has served her country well,imo.
