Princess of Wales ‘laden’ with flowers after royals attend Christmas Day church service at Sandringham

The Princess of Wales was “laden” with flowers from members of the public who waited to greet her after the royals attended the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham.

Kate received several bouquets from well-wishers, some of whom camped out from 7.30pm on Christmas Eve to get a glimpse of her.

She has been largely absent from royal duties this year, having announced her cancer diagnosis in March. She finished a course of preventative chemotherapy in November.

Sky royal correspondent Laura Bundock described her being “laden” with bunches of flowers.

“The majority of people here will say that Catherine was the person they wanted to see,” she said from the scene.

“I think, having seen so little of her, especially this year, she’s always the one the real royal fans want to meet.”

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The Princess of Wales and her husband Prince William, both 42, were accompanied by their three children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, at St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day morning near the royal estate in Norfolk.

The King, 76, and Queen, 77, led the group of royals, which also included the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, as they walked into church and were greeted by the Reverend Canon Dr Paul Rhys Williams.

Prince Andrew, 64, was absent from the royals’ Christmas Day activities for the first time in two years after facing fresh controversy over links to an alleged Chinese spy.

He and his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, are believed to be spending the day together at their home – the Royal Lodge in Windsor. Their daughter Beatrice was among the contingent at Sandringham, however.

The King, whose treatment for cancer will continue into next year, delivered his Christmas message to the nation this afternoon – praising the community response to the “anger and lawlessness” of this summer’s riots and thanking the medics who cared for him.

This year it was filmed by Sky News at the chapel of the former Middlesex Hospital in central London.

Man camped out since yesterday spoke to Kate

John Loughrey, 64, was the first in the queue to see the royals in Norfolk – arriving at the church gate from his home in Wandsworth, south London on Christmas Eve.

He managed to speak to both the Prince and Princess of Wales – after a 16-hour wait.

He told Bundock afterwards: “I’m on top of the world. I told Catherine she was an inspiration. She said thank you, and said she liked my badges.”

Earlier in the morning he explained why he wanted to travel to see the royals.

“It’s not been easy on Catherine and her family, so we’ve come to support that,” he said.

Others who camped out had come as far as Australia and Missouri, USA.

Isabelle Element travelled from Brisbane, where her family are celebrating Christmas with a barbecue in the garden.

“They don’t think I’m mad,” she told Sky News. “We’re massive royalists, ever since I was a little girl I’ve followed the Royal Family. I was planning a trip to the UK anyway, but this was a big part of it.”

Nicky, from Warrington, camped out on behalf of her grandmother, who died earlier this year and was a “huge royalist”.

“So we’ve come really for her, because she would have loved to have seen our photo or videos that we would have took while we were here,” she said. “She would have been so proud of us.”