King leads Royal Family on traditional walk to Christmas church service as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stays away

Conspicuous by his absence was the disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor who has been ordered to stay away from the public affair.

While the wider Royal Family was celebrating Christmas at Sandringham, Andrew is said to be spending the day at Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Despite his removal from public life, Andrew's daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were still present on the traditional walk alongside their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank.

He will leave the 30-room mansion in the New Year - and is preparing to move into a small home on the Sandringham estate as part of his exile from public life.

Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were stripped of their titles earlier this year for their ties to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Many in the crowd waiting to see the royals walk to church on Christmas Day morning brought festive cheer with red and white Christmas hats.

Some had travelled from overseas including Sara Morelli, 27, who runs a British royal family memorabilia business in Modena, Italy.

She joked "I'm spending my Christmas with the royal family" adding: "I like Prince William and Princess Catherine and I have big love for Queen Elizabeth.

"The princess is very empathetic, she has empathy for people and that is something I love.

William is very friendly and of course I love his mother, Lady Diana she was a very important woman."