Senior and wider members of the Royal Family travelled to Buckingham Palace today for King Charles’s annual Christmas lunch, but four key members did not attend. The festive party is held for all members of the Royal Family and usually takes place around a week before Christmas, with around 70 of the King’s relatives invited to the bash. 

It offers the family a chance to get together, as not all of them will be joining the festivities at Sandringham in Norfolk. Both William and Catherine were seen driving with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis into the gates of the Palace.

They were joined by the likes of the Duchess of Edinburgh, who was seen at the bash with the Duke of Edinburgh, and their daughter Lady Louise Windsor. Attendees also included the Duke of Kent, Lady Sarah Chatto, Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, alongside wider family members.

Photos showed Princess Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie attending, with Eugenie festively wearing candy cane earrings. Another photo showed Eugenie in a car with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.

Family members that did not attend, included Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was today pictured riding his horse in the pouring rain.

Andrew’s notable absence from the royal festivities comes just days after the Metropolitan Police confirmed it will “take no further action” over claims he asked his police protection officer to find information on his sexual assault accuser, Virginia Giuffre. Andrew has constantly denied all wrongdoing.

Eugenie and Beatrice had both been absent from Catherine’s carol concert on December 5, but were back in the fold today.

Other key missing family members included Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who are thought to be in Montecito, California, with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, underwent life-saving surgery in the Philippines after a blood clot was found in his leg, and has spoken of his desire not to “die estranged from Meghan”.

The Duchess of Sussex, who has not seen him since she married Prince Harry in 2018, “reached out” to her father in the form of a hand-delivered letter.

The former Hollywood lighting director, Thomas, has never met his son-in-law, the Duke of Sussex, or the couple’s children.