Princess Kate has skipped two Christmases with the royals

The Prince and Princess of Wales are no doubt looking forward to the festive season with Kate set to host her annual Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey.

The couple traditionally spend Christmas with the rest of the royal family at Sandringham in Norfolk, stepping out to greet locals on the way to church. And in recent years, Prince William and Kate’s three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis have joined them for the annual outing.

While William and Kate’s plans are yet to be confirmed for this year, since their marriage in 2011, they have only missed Christmas with the royals on two occasions.

In 2012, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge opted to spend the festive season with Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, in Bucklebury, in Berkshire.

Kate was in the early months of her pregnancy with Prince George at the time and was suffering with hyperemesis gravidarum (severe sickness). Just weeks before Christmas Day 2012, she was hospitalised with the condition.

The decision to stay with the Middletons that year was to aid the Princess’s recovery, with the pair later visiting Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip privately at the Sandringham estate.

© Getty

Then in 2016, William and Kate broke with tradition again to spend Christmas with Kate’s family in Bucklebury.

Royal fans were delighted as the couple brought George, then three, and Charlotte, one, to the church service, accompanied by Carole and Michael, and Kate’s siblings, Pippa and James.

© Getty

The young royals left church clutching candy canes, with George wrapped up in a grey button-up coat and Charlotte matching her mother in a navy jacket and burgundy tights.

The Christmas Day walkabout was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. William and Kate attended church with their children in Norfolk as then Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall spent Christmas with the late Queen in Windsor.

The festive tradition resumed in 2022, with Prince Louis joining his family for the first time on the walk to church.