Britain's royal family took their traditional public Christmas Day stroll to and from church on Friday, with one well-wisher receiving a hug and a kiss from Prince William.
The royals traditionally spend their winter break at Sandringham, Queen Elizabeth II's private estate in Norfolk, eastern England.
Around 1,000 onlookers watched them attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church on the estate.
William, third in line to the throne, stopped to greet carer Debbie Barlett, 51, who lives near Sandringham.
"He gave me a hug and a kiss and asked me where my snowman was," she said.
"I've been coming here for the past 20 years. It's one chance you get to see the royals altogether. It's lovely."
Army officers William and his brother Prince Harry are both on leave from their military training to become helicopter pilots. As per royal etiquette, their girlfriends were not present.
Afterwards outside the church, well-wishers handed several bouquets of flowers to the 83-year-old Queen Elizabeth, who wore a red outfit.
Equestrian world champion Zara Phillips, 28, the queen's eldest grand-daughter, sported the most daring footwear on the icy quarter-mile (400-metre) path from Sandringham House -- six-inch (15-centimetre) stiletto heels.
While most people in Britain open their presents on Christmas Day, the royals follow the German tradition and open theirs on Christmas Eve. The queen apparently prefers practical gifts that are not overly extravagant.
After dinner, the ladies adjourn and Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip serves port or brandy to the men.
Following their Christmas morning visit to the church, lunch is served at 1:00 pm, usually a giant turkey reared on the estate.
While the royal family gathers round the television to watch Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Day broadcast at 3:00 pm, the sovereign sometimes watches it alone in another room.
This year, the queen's lawyers have warned newspapers not to publish paparazzi pictures of the royals on their winter break. Freelance photographers normally spend hours monitoring the area to get pictures of the family on the estate.
(Read by Dan Chinoy. Dan Chinoy is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)
點擊查看更多雙語新聞
(Agencies)
上周五，英國王室成員前往教堂做一年一度的聖誕禮拜，一位熱情的民眾還得到了威廉王子的擁抱和親吻。
按照傳統，英國王室每年都在女王伊莉莎白二世位於英格蘭東部諾福克郡的私人宅邸桑德靈漢姆宮度聖誕假期。
當天，王室成員在桑德靈漢姆宮的聖馬利亞•瑪德琳教堂參加聖誕彌撒，現場共有約一千名民眾圍觀。
王位第三繼承人威廉王子還停下來問候了當地的一位居民——51歲的黛比•巴雷特。黛比是一名看護，居住在桑德靈漢姆宮附近。
黛比說：「他給了我一個擁抱和親吻。還問我的雪人在哪裡。」
「在過去20年裡，我每年都會來這裡。這是一次能看到王室全體成員的機會，很有意思。」
現為軍官的威廉王子和弟弟哈裡王子目前都在接受直升機飛行員的軍事訓練。按照王室禮節，兩人的女友不能參加這樣的王室活動。
隨後，教堂外的熱情民眾向83歲的女王伊莉莎白二世獻上幾束鮮花。女王當天身著紅色套裝。
女王的長外孫女、馬術世界冠軍——28歲的扎拉·菲利普斯當天的鞋裝最為「大膽」，她腳穿一雙跟高達六英寸（合15釐米）的細高跟鞋，走在桑德靈漢姆宮至教堂距離400米的冰面路上。
儘管大多數英國人在聖誕節當天打開禮物，但英國王室仍按照德國傳統，在聖誕前夜就打開了禮物。女王似乎更青睞不奢華、實用的禮物。
在用完餐後，女士們一般會退場，女王的丈夫菲利普親王則招待男士們喝波爾圖葡萄酒或白蘭地。
在聖誕節當天上午去教堂做完禮拜後，王室成員們於下午一點享用午餐，午餐的主菜通常是在桑德靈漢姆宮飼養的一隻大火雞。
王室成員通常在下午三點圍坐在電視機旁觀看女王的聖誕致辭，而女王有時會在另一個房間獨自觀看。
今年，女王的律師已向報紙發出警告，提醒他們不要刊登狗仔隊拍攝的王室度假的照片。為拍到王室成員在桑德靈漢姆宮度聖誕的照片，自由攝影記者們常常會在此地蹲點數小時。
相關閱讀
Queen's Christmas message 英國女王聖誕致辭
英女王致信報社 抗議狗仔隊騷擾
英女王聖誕致辭：今年聖誕有點愁
揭秘英國女王的聖誕卡祝福語
女王也趕潮流 聖誕致辭將登Youtube
研究表明：英女王貴族口音逐漸消失
2009聖誕專輯
（中國日報網英語點津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍）