Is King Charles Making a Major Change to This Royal Family Christmas Tradition?
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12/16/2024 12:35 PM
The shakeup involves an annual staple in the royal family's Christmas plans
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(From left) Kate Middleton, King Charles, Prince George, Prince William and Queen Camilla walk to church on Christmas at Sandringham on Dec. 25, 2023King Charles might be shaking up a cherished Christmas tradition!
On Dec. 16, Hello!reported that the King, 76, is switching up the location of the royal family's traditional Christmas lunch, and will host the event at Buckingham Palace instead of Windsor Castle as he has for the past two years. The British royal family is known to convene about a week before the Christmas holiday for a private family meal, and it remains unclear why the sovereign may be hosting the event in London instead of Windsor.
Last year, Princess Anne, Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank, Prince Edward, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips and more royal family members were spotted driving around Windsor on the day of the lunch, held on Dec. 20. In a twist, Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, were not snapped arriving or departing — perhaps because of an especially quick commute!
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(Left) Prince William and Kate Middleton in Paris in 2017; (Right) Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.Related: King Charles Is All Smiles as He Gets into the Holiday Spirit and Decorates a Christmas Tree
The Wales family moved to Adelaide Cottage on the vast grounds of Windsor Castle in 2022, relocating from London in order for William to be geographically closer to his grandmother Queen Elizabeth "in her final months," Robert Jobson wrote in the biography Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted the private family lunch for the first time together in December 2022, following his accession upon his mother's death at age 96 that September. The gathering was a revival of tradition, as the occasion had been canceled the previous two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It would be a poignant choice if King Charles hosts the holiday lunch at Buckingham Palace, as that's where Queen Elizabeth historically held the event. The Queen typically welcomed over 50 family members to the lunch in London, which was held about a week before she headed to Sandringham House in the Norfolk countryside for Christmas.
Related: Prince William Reveals Rare Details About Royal Family's Private Christmas Party: 'It Will Be Noisy'
The British royals have celebrated Christmas at Sandringham for generations, and Prince William and Princess Kate are set to ring in the holiday with the King there following a difficult year in which Kate and the King each received treatment for cancer. (The King's diagnosis was announced in February and his treatment is thought to be ongoing, while Princess Kate shared in March that she had cancer and announced in September that she completed chemotherapy.)
Several members of the royal family kickstarted the holiday season by stepping out to support Princess Kate's Together at Christmascarol service at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 6, which King Charles and Queen Camilla skipped. The royal couple may have made the decision as a gesture of respect towards the princess on her big night, where they technically would have overshadowed her in the order of precedence as the seniormost royals in attendance.
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Kate Middleton arrives for the Together at Christmas concert on Dec. 6, 2024.
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Looking ahead to the royal family's most iconic Christmas tradition — a walk to and from St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate — PEOPLE confirms that Prince Andrew and his family will not attend the time-honored get-together hosted by the King.
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Prince Andrew and King Charles at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 19, 2022.PEOPLE understands that the Duke of York, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, their daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their young families will not be at the Sandringham Christmas celebrations in light of scrutiny for Andrew to stay away amid reports of his alleged connections to a suspected Chinese spy. The York family had been expected to partake in the tradition and stay at Wood Farm at Sandringham estate for Christmas like they did last year, though plans have apparently since changed.
It remains unclear if Prince Andrew (who is no longer a working royal) will join the royals at the traditional Christmas lunch in light of the scandal, and Buckingham Palace had no comment.
