I’m pleasantly surprised to see that there’s some kind of reaction to Prince William and Kate’s BS yesterday. They made a point of skipping the Windsors’ pre-Christmas lunch in London, they briefed about their absence to the press, and then they dropped their Christmas card at the same time King Charles was hosting the family lunch. While few people are coming out and saying “something profoundly weird is happening with this family,” there are hints of that in the reporting, they just have to mask it in faux-concern. “Poor William, he can’t sit through a family lunch, he’s had such a tough year!” That kind of thing. Watch how the Telegraph managed to criticize William in a backhanded way.
There was the King and Queen, princes and princesses, a sprinkling of dukes and duchesses, and lords and ladies galore. As the Royal family gathered for their annual Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, there was one thing missing. Not the Duke of York – who had bowed out at the last minute amid the “Chinese spy” scandal, to the relief of some – but the Wales family, who chose instead to spend the day at their home in Norfolk, kicking off their festive break in the countryside early.
The decision says everything about the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the shape of the modern monarchy – the children come first. After a tough year – “brutal”, as the Prince described it – they have swapped the tick-box traditions of the royal calendar for time as a five at home. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have broken up from school, they have nothing official on their plates until the Christmas Day walk to Sandringham and, it appears, decided – why not?
The decision to skip the Buckingham Palace lunch was made quite some time ago, a source said, with the King told in advance. The family “look forward” to seeing the Windsor clan in Sandringham over Christmas instead.
The decision speaks volumes on two fronts. First, the Princess of Wales’ renewed priorities after her major surgery and chemotherapy this year. Being out in nature, cuddling her children, making memories. The lure of dressing up to brave the cameras and sit for formal lunch with her in-laws is not so strong in the wake of all the Princess has been through.
Second, sadly, is the steady march of time. If William had once expected to have decades ahead of him as the Prince of Wales, his father’s cancer, and the ongoing treatment to keep it at bay, will have been an awakening the likes of which no child wants to experience.
With a lifetime of duty ahead, he is working out for himself how and where to spread his energy. There are plenty of signs that he is committed to the role of heir to the throne, abandoning domestic plans in order to fly to Paris two weekends ago for the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral and a meeting with Donald Trump, the US president-elect. But when and where he has a choice, his priority is clear.
Just as the school run tends to come first on week days, so a peaceful childhood for his sons and daughter will always prevail where possible.
A palace lunch, on the face of it, is a small concession to make. It is not what his father or grandmother would have chosen, but there is no one more aware of that than William. A source said “it’s been an incredibly tough year”, whle the prince himself said: “It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.” Last week, he told a member of the public he had “a lot of things going on”.
“…Will have been an awakening the likes of which no child wants to experience” – William turned 42 years old this year. He’s not a child. “With a lifetime of duty ahead, he is working out for himself how and where to spread his energy.” Again, he’s 42. He’s had half his life to work out his priorities, and he’s made these choices. “A palace lunch, on the face of it, is a small concession to make. It is not what his father or grandmother would have chosen…” Exactly. If William is regularly in the habit of throwing tantrums about “going to a family lunch,” imagine how awful he is whenever they try to get him to do something important or job-related.
I also think it’s interesting that William and Kate have likely gotten away with not attending the lunch in 2022 and 2023. No one saw them at those Windsor Castle lunches, there was no reporting of their presence, and they got away with just keeping silent about all of it. But once Charles shifted the lunch back to Buckingham Palace, their absence couldn’t be hidden, which is why they made a point of briefing their non-attendance and releasing their Christmas card.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
