She has decided to forsake her traditional family Christmas at Sandringham for the first time in 33 years.
But, as she and Prince Philip remain at Windsor over the festive period, the Queen will no doubt have been alarmed to learn about the disquieting death of an owl killed in a trap on her beloved Norfolk estate .
Its inadvertent demise was called to the attention of the RSPCA and the local constabulary.
The incident happened in May but only became the subject of an investigation this month.
'We were contacted by a man wishing to inform us that on May 29 this year he found a Little Owl caught in a Fenn Trap on the Sandringham Estate next to Flitcham Barns,' says the National Anti-Snaring Campaign.