Royals Breach COVID Rules: A Sandringham Stroll

In December 2020, members of the British royal family, including the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (now Prince William and Kate), were alleged to have breached the government's 'Rule of Six'. This rule limited social gatherings to six people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The incident occurred during an evening visit to the Luminate woodland walk on the Queen's Sandringham estate. The group, which included Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, comprised nine individuals in total.

However, royal sources maintained that the two families had arrived and visited the attraction separately. They stressed that there was no intention for them to meet as a larger group of nine. The sources explained that separate, consecutive time slots were allocated to each family just before the trail opened to the public.

Furthermore, they noted that maintaining complete separation on a 90-minute walk, especially with young children, proved difficult at times. Bottlenecks on the trail reportedly led to moments where the two family groups became inadvertently close.