Queen May Miss New Year's Day Church Service At Sandringham As She Continues To Battle ill Health

The Queen could miss the annual New Year's Day church service at Sandringham as she continues to battle ill health.

The 90-year-old monarch has not been seen in public for 11 days and missed a Christmas Day church service for the first time in 28 years with what has been officially described as a "heavy cold".

A decision is expected to be taken tomorrow over whether she is well enough to attend.

If she does attend, she will be joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who spent Christmas with the Middleton family in Berkshire.

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A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said Her Majesty remains at her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

She said: "The Queen is continuing to recover from her heavy cold and is still in residence at Sandringham.

"We probably will not know what is happening until the morning.

"If the Queen does attend church, it is possible she will be joined by Prince William and wife Kate who spent Christmas with the Middleton family in Berkshire."

Buckingham Palace was forced to quash rumours of the Queen's death earlier this week.

Speculation was sparked after the Queen missed the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham.

In the following days rumours began spreading over Twitter, most notably when a fake BBC News accounts duped scores of people with a fake report of her death.

The speculation prompted Buckingham Palace to take the unusual step of commenting on Her Majesty's health, saying the Queen "continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery.