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The Queen has cancelled her pre-Christmas lunch with the royals amid a huge rise in Omicron cases in the U.K.
According to the BBC, a source said the royals felt the event “could put too many people’s Christmas plans at risk.”
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The lunch, for which Her Majesty is joined by relatives each year before she heads to Sandringham in Norfolk for the holidays, was due to take place next week at Windsor Castle.
Guests would have likely included the Queen’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as her cousins the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, and Prince Michael of Kent.
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Last year’s bash was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
This year will be the Queen’s first Christmas without her husband of 73 years Prince Philip, who passed away at age 99 on April 9.
The news comes as 78,610 COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.K. Wednesday, which is the country’s highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.