BEING a member of the royal family means you have a Christmas like no other, and for the three young Cambridge children it means three quite different celebrations.
Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight and Prince Louis, five, will be joining their grandfather, the King, and the rest of the family for a traditional royal Christmas at Sandringham this year, which includes a church service and opening presents on Christmas Eve.
But they will also get to enjoy an intimate Christmas morning with their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as a "fun and informal" Christmas with the Middletons.
Sarah Hewson, royal editor at Talk TV explained: “They will be celebrating with the rest of the royal family this year, but the beauty for Kate and William and their children is that they stay at Anmer Hall, so they can be there together before they go and join the formalities at Sandringham.
“Then it's usually expected they would then get together with the Middletons at a later point, either in Berkshire or at Amner, where they have all the fun and the informality of a Middleton family Christmas.”
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This year, the King has invited his three siblings, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and the Duke of Edinburgh and their families to join him and Camilla at the Sandringham Estate for the festivities.
They will also be joined by The Queen’s children, Laura Lopes and Tom Parker-Bowles, Laura’s husband Harry, their children and Camilla’s sister, Annabel Elliot.
“It will be a blended family Christmas this year,” Sarah exclusively told Fabulous.
“They will all get together on Christmas Eve and the little royals - George, Charlotte and Louis and Camilla's grandchildren - will help finish decorating the tree.
"Then, the royal family and all their guests will place their gifts on a trestle table in the red drawing room and they will open them at tea time, a German tradition introduced by Prince Albert.
"And contrary to what we might expect when you think about a royal Christmas, there are no diamonds under the tree.
"They actually give joke gifts - Kate once, when he was single, gave Harry a Grow Your Own girlfriend kit, and apparently Meghan's present to the Queen on her first Christmas at Sandringham with a singing hamster.
“Christmas Eve evening is a black tie dinner for the adults, and then the next day they will come together again at the main house and walk to St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate for a church service.
It will be a blended family Christmas this year
Sarah Hewson
"Lunch is a traditional Christmas dinner with Turkey, perhaps a glass or two of wine for the adults, and apple juice for the children from apples grown on the estate.
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"And believe it or not, they then all sit and watch the King’s speech together, just like any other family on Christmas day.”
The Middleton family Christmas will also be a large gathering this year, including Pippa, her husband James Matthews, their three children Arthur, five, Grace, two and one year old Rose, as well as younger brother James, his wife Alizée Thevenet and their newborn son Indigo.
And according to Sarah, Prince William, 41, has always particularly enjoyed the Middleton family Christmas as it reminds him of the fun his own mother, the late Princess Diana, injected into the festive season.
She said: “Kate’s mother Carole has talked about Christmas Eve boxes, a tradition of a little gift on Christmas Eve for the children, just whet their appetite for what's to come the next day, as well as hiding cheeky elves around her house to make her grandchildren laugh.
Kate’s mother Carole has talked about Christmas Eve boxes
Sarah Hewson
"She once said that as much as you love all the immaculate decorations, you can't be too serious at Christmas and I do think they have a lot of fun with their grandchildren.
"They play a really important role in giving them that sense of normality, an ordinary family life, and Prince William just relishes those Christmases at Middleton family home.
"It’s the kind of Christmas his mother would have wanted to have given him.”
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