The Queen is "very sad" that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will miss Christmas in the UK, says royal expert

Like us, the Royal Family (opens in new tab) is going to have to make changes to its Christmas traditions (opens in new tab) this year. The Queen (opens in new tab) is particularly upset that the guest list for the Christmas celebration (opens in new tab) will have to be changed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

In an interview with the Daily Express, royal biographer Penny Junner, author of the 1991 biography Charles and Diana: Portrait of a Marriage (opens in new tab) Penny Juner explained that the Queen missed the Sussexes the most this holiday season.

According to Juner, the Queen is "a very sweet person," and she is no doubt incredibly disappointed that he and his wife Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) cannot visit for the holidays -- along with great-grandson Archie Harrison (opens in new tab).

"The Queen will be very sad not to see Harry and Meghan and her youngest great-grandson," Junod said. She added, "Harry is very close to his cousins, so he will miss them very much, and of course he will miss spending time with his grandparents, whom he adores."

It is not only the Queen's traditional Sandringham Christmas (open with a new tab) celebration that Harry will miss. According to Juner, there are other Christmas traditions that the royal family will miss this year as they spend Christmas in California.

"They will also miss the charity football game between the home team (they and the estate workers) and the locals that I organized with William a few years ago," she explained.

Still, Juneau is confident that Harry will make time for his grandmother on Christmas Day for a virtual celebration (open in new tab).

"I imagine Meghan will follow whatever traditions she grew up with," she predicted of the Sussex family's Christmas this year.

"But I have no doubt that at some point during Christmas, she will make a zoom call to the royal family.