The Royal Family are preparing for a “bumper” Christmas at Sandringham after a year of personal challenges.
King Charles will honor the late Queen’s tradition of hosting Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk and it is expected that around 40 family members will attend this year in what sources are describing as “one of the biggest family Christmases ever.”
Sources tell Vanity Fair that Kate Middleton and Prince William will be joining the royals despite rumors that they could opt for a more low-key Christmas at Anmer Hall.
“Actually the plan is for them to all be at Sandringham for a very special big family Christmas. William and Catherine and the children will be there. The king and queen want their nearest and dearest with them to celebrate,” a royal source tells Vanity Fair.
Tom Parker Bowles, Queen Camilla’s son, revealed in an interview with the Telegraph published Saturday that he has been invited to join the royals for Christmas for the first time and is looking forward to a “different” Christmas to usual.
King Charles is said to be keen for the royals to conduct a walkabout after church on Christmas Day in what will be seen as a show of unity and togetherness.
The last time the royals were seen en masse was on Christmas Day last year. Just weeks later the palace revealed that the Princess of Wales and King Charles were to undergo surgery followed by the shocking news that they had both been diagnosed with cancer. Neither royal has disclosed the type of disease they have been battling.
“It has been a very difficult and challenging time but the feeling is they are over the shock and the worst of it, and everyone is feeling very optimistic about 2025,” adds the insider.
“The king is having ongoing treatment, which he is tolerating very well. When I last saw him he was looking amazing and very excited about the family being together for the festive season.”
The royals will be busy in the run-up to Christmas. King Charles and Queen Camilla released their Christmas Card this weekend, a relaxed image of the couple taken in the gardens at Buckingham Palace by photographer Millie Pilkington. With his arm around his wife and his other hand in his pocket, the king looked serene and happy in a moment palace aides said marked a return to normality after a difficult year.
As King Charles continues to undergo treatment, he is due to carry out a number of engagements over the coming two weeks while the Princess of Wales hosted her Together at Christmas concert on Friday. Next week Queen Camilla, who is still recovering from a bout of pneumonia, will invite children to decorate a Christmas tree at Clarence House as part of an afternoon of special surprises to support her charitable causes.
“The queen is doing a lot better, she just needs to rest and take things a bit easier,” said the source. “She is very much looking forward to having some of her family at the Christmas table this year, it is going to feel extra special.”
Although it is a family affair, Christmas at Sandringham implements a formal dress code with a black-tie dinner on Christmas Eve, during which the family eats a turkey dinner. Prince Harry revealed in his book Spare that the family opens gifts on Christmas Eve and when it comes to presents, token gifts, and jokey presents are preferred to expensive gifting.
The Sussexes, however, will not be coming to the UK for Christmas – the sixth year that they have not spent with Harry’s side of the family. They are expected to celebrate in California with Meghan’s mother.
