It's a very royal Christmas over at Sandringham, where the British royal family spent the morning at St. Mary Magdalene Church. A cheery Queen Elizabeth II was joined by Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camilla and the rest of the royal gang on a chilly walk with fans greeting them along the way.
The queen wore a vivid turquoise coat dress with a matching hat, natch, but it was Zara Phillips, Princess Anne's daughter and the queen's granddaughter, who caught our eye. The typically tomboyish royal stunned in a cream-colored jacket, a brown fascinator and lace-up heeled booties -- much trendier than expected. Princess Eugenie also impressed in stylish knee-high boots.
There were, of course, three notable absences: Prince Harry is still off serving in Afghanistan, and Prince William and Kate are celebrating Christmas with the Middletons in the southern England village of Bucklebury, breaking with tradition. Rumor has it that with a baby on the way, the Duchess of Cambridge wished to spend her last Christmas sans children (i.e. her last relaxing Christmas for a good 18 years at least) with her own family.
"The Middletons' Christmas should be blissfully calm. We're good at keeping each other's spirits up," her sister Pippa wrote in recent article for Spectator, a weekly British mag.
Kate could use it, seeing as she's been fighting hyperemesis gravidarum since getting pregnant several months ago. Indeed, one blog noted that Kate looked rather pale and exhausted when walking to church with William and her family this morning.
Of course her clothing was anything but: the duchess donned her sleek Hobbs coat, Aquatalia by Marvin K suede booties, a Gucci clutch and a jaunty red scarf.
Check out photos of the whole family minus our favorites celebrating Christmas in style.
