Queen Elizabeth missed this holiday tradition due to a heavy cold, and we’re wishing her well

We all have our holiday traditions – though most of ours don’t span three decades. Sadly, this year one long-running royal holiday tradition had to be skipped: Queen Elizabeth II missed her usual Christmas church service due to a nasty cold. She’s been going for nearly 30 years, so it’s kind of a big deal.

Queen Elizabeth is truly an inspiration. For one, she’s the world’s longest-reigning living monarch. (And she may be 90, but she loves social media, which is kinda awesome.) For another, she’s active in making the world a better place: The female head of state opened a research institute only a couple months ago. She’s definitely someone we look up to in a lot of ways.

Obviously, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip are extremely active for being 90 and 95-years-old, respectively. However, that means they need all the rest they can get when they’re under the weather. According to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, they’re both suffering heavy colds. That meant a delay in their yearly holiday trip to Sandringham, and taking it easy once they were there.

The spokesperson said, "Her Majesty The Queen will not attend Church at Sandringham this morning. The Queen continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery.

The Queen has been attending her usual Christmas service every year since 1988. Sadly, this year the parish church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham missed her presence. Luckily, most of the Royal family was still in attendance.

The Royal Family attends the morning service at Sandringham Church on Christmas Day #merrychristmas pic.twitter.com/DxQR3jYLBc

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) December 25, 2016

However, the Queen didn’t spend the day in bed. According to the spokesperson, she still planned to celebrate: "Her Majesty will participate in the Royal Family Christmas celebrations during the day."

We don’t know if we’d be as determined, but we definitely admire the Queen’s dedication. Hopefully, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are already feeling better. We wish them both a speedy recovery!