With daughter-in-law Sophie — the Countess of Wessex and wife of Prince Edward — absent on baby production duties over Christmas, the Queen will miss her company over the holiday season, we’re told.

Sophie is a favourite companion of the Monarch, providing welcome female chatter amid the male talk of the rest of the family. She also remains with the Queen when the men embark on their traditional Boxing Day shoot at Sandringham.

Sophie will be admitted to Frimley Park Hospital on December 21 for a planned Caesarean, hoping to take the new baby home to Bagshot Park on Christmas Eve.

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Prince Charles and Camilla will spend only a short time at Sandringham this Christmas. Arriving late on Christmas Eve, they will depart for Balmoral after the Boxing Day shoot.

With Princes William and Harry also anxious to get back to London and their friends, it will be a short and unusually quiet holiday season this year in Royal Norfolk.

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When Earl Peel, the Lord Chamberlain, announced at a reception at Buckingham Palace last week that the Queen would not be retiring any time soon, he is said to have received a rousing cheer.

The thought of the Queen retiring is enough to ruin many people’s Christmas spirit, but has not been an issue since her 80th birthday passed without carpet bags at dawn. I wonder why it was necessary for Peel to reiterate this now?

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With the interminable Diana Inquest appearing to be hurtling towards an inevitable Accidental Death verdict, the “Dearest Pa” letters between a clearly affectionate Prince Philip and an appreciative Princess Diana have garnered a lot of coverage and comment in the press.

Attempts to blacken the name of the bluff war hero have diverted attention from his sterling qualities as head of the Royal Family. While Philip can be outspoken at times, his heart has always been in the right place — in support of the Queen.

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As 2007 draws to a close how will the Queen assess it?

Royal Anecdotes imagines her delighted at the arrival of a new grandchild; glad that a succession of major anniversaries are finally over; and looking forward to the first of what could be many Royal Weddings in the spring — that of Peter Philips and Autumn Kelly at Windsor in May.

Despite all the minor problems the flesh is heir to, that’s not a bad haul of good news to concentrate on.

Merry Christmas.

Ahead of a visit to Canada, the Toronto Star is singing the praises of Sophie, Countess of Wessex : “On Monday, the 41-year-old countess arrives for a three-day stay in Toronto that will include a dinner for the Munk Cardiac Centre and visits to various other sites in the University Health Network, of which she is patron.”

They certainly pile it on :

How often the 80-year-old Queen must gaze upon the one-time Sophie Rhys-Jones — the ‘lowest-born’ person ever to marry into the royal family — and think, ‘Not sure how, but one of them got it right.’ The one is Prince Edward, the youngest and least known of the Queen’s sons. In 1999, he married public-relations consultant Sophie, a tire exporter’s daughter with a striking resemblance to Princess Diana, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Sophie, mother of a 3-year-old daughter, has become a quietly hard-working Royal after early problems with her PR business, which went bust, an embarrassing meeting with a fake sheik, and nearly losing her life during childbirth.

She has become one of the Queen’s favourite companions and, like Princess Anne before her, admired for her low-key hard work and professionalism.

We hear that Kate Middleton is having second thoughts about her proposed clothing business. It seems the hassle of setting up a company, together with its high capital requirements, have taken their toll on her enthusiasm.

The main problem, though, may well be the security implications of placing her personal details in the public domain, as happens during company formation.

All this suggests that Kate sees her future as a public figure whose intimate data will need to be protected.

She may also be worried about going down the same route as Sophie Wessex who tied herself up in knots with her PR business, RJH, which was recently wound up with large debts.

We understand that Kate is now considering interior design as a career, presumably as a freelance consultant rather than a limited company.

Kate also suffered a major setback towards her dreams of starting a mail-order children’s clothing company when the well-known brand Viyella withdrew their support from the business venture at the last minute.

Another week another pile of speculation on a possible marriage within a year between Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Some stories are even suggesting a Royal Wedding this winter : a Palace source is quoted as saying, “There is a slight stalemate, largely because William is unsure over the timing. The betting below stairs is still on a wedding within 12 months. The Royals can see Kate will be an asset and won’t allow Wills to let her slip through his fingers.”

Susie Boniface wrote on Sunday: “… in case Wills pops the question this year, courtiers — who make contingency plans for every eventuality — are working on outline arrangements for a winter wedding at Westminster or St Paul’s.”

We’re also hearing that William is under pressure to pop the question from the Queen, Prince Charles and from Kate Middleton herself.

The Queen is thought to be concerned that William, who will one day be head of the Church of England, is “living in sin” with Kate.

The Sunday Mirror reports: “Prince Charles thinks Kate is ‘just perfect’ and has told Wills to seize the moment — before she gets fed up waiting, like Camilla Parker Bowles did with him more than 30 years ago.”

Kate, 24, has apparently told friends she feels she’s “marking time”. A friend said, “she’s hoping he does something sooner rather than later, maybe on their summer holiday”.

Susie Boniface says: “Kate is seen as similar to Sophie Wessex — a well brought up, middle-class girl who can bring a much-needed ‘common touch’ to the Royals.