For decades, Queen Elizabeth hosted a pre-Christmas lunch for the extended royal family at Buckingham Palace. QEII timed the lunch for one of her final days in London before traveling to Sandringham, where she would stay through early February most years. QEII would invite all of the royal cousins and married-in relations so that the whole family was together, because most of those people were not invited to Sandringham. When King Charles took over in 2022, he decided to continue with the pre-Christmas lunch tradition, but he moved the event to Windsor Castle for the past two years. In both 2022 and 2023, Prince William and Kate skipped the lunch, even if it was just a hop, skip and jump away from Adelaide Cottage. I believe the excuse they use is that they head straight to Norfolk the second their kids’ school break starts, and they don’t see the need in choppering in for lunch? Well, in any case, this year, Charles will host the lunch at Buckingham Palace.
King 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!
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.
Will and Kate were not photographed going to the lunch because they didn’t go to the lunch for two years in a row. It’s weird that no one can admit that or point out that the heir to the throne refuses to simply enjoy a lunch with his extended family. This is yet another example of Will and Kate refusing to even do the bare minimum. As for the switch back to Buckingham Palace… I wonder what it’s really about, because it’s clearly not about Will & Kate’s non-attendance. My guess is that the switch is more about Charles’s cancer treatment in London? Or maybe the cousins complained about having to schlep all the way to Windsor for lunch when most of them live in London.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.
