With Christmas just around the corner, royal sources have revealed that Kate Middleton and Prince William are planning to massively deviate from royal tradition this year and are hosting a 'rival' Christmas celebration away from Balmoral.
The Royal Family is a huge part of Christmas; The King's Speech, Kate Middleton's Together at Christmas Carol Service, the royal Christmas portraits and cards the family release each year to mark the holiday.
But this year is set to be a little bit different - well, a lot different if royal sources are to be believed.
Each year during the Christmas holidays, royals are bound by a series of royal traditions that dictate how they celebrate the festive season. The most important? Going to Balmoral castle to spend time with the entire family and enjoy a filling Christmas lunch, hosted by King Charles, together.
But, this year, that's set to change. A former courtier who worked with William and Kate told The Daily Beast that the couple are planning to host a 'rival' and more laid-back Christmas party at their home to give their family a more 'normal' Christmas.
But it might not just be about the family. The source explained, “A little social media of the family eating chocolate and watching TV would be a very effective way of showing how normal Christmas is at Anmer Hall (Kate and William's Norfolk home) compared to what we hear about at Sandringham," with the source adding that Kate and William are especially keen to drop any and all out-of-touch habits by the time they become King and Queen Consort.
A communications executive who previously worked with Kate and William explained, “William and Kate have made an incredibly successful brand out of being normal and boring, but the crazy royal customs at Christmas threaten all that.
"It’s particularly damaging to their reputation because Christmas is the one time that everybody in the whole country actually pays attention to the royals, and it risks getting overshadowed by stories about these strange, elitist, aristocratic habits. It’s not surprising they want to change the narrative as they prepare to take the throne themselves.”
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But it's not just this Christmas party that's going to be different this year. Kate is also keen to ditch the royal tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve, which is a Germanic tradition Queen Victoria and Prince Albert introduced to help the family connect to their German roots.
However, Kate has reportedly always found this tradition 'weird,' with a friend of the family revealing, "Kate has always found the presents on Christmas Eve thing weird. It is definitely going to be got rid of when they are officially running things.
"I imagine it will continue this year at Sandringham in some shape or form but everything is going to be much more relaxed and have a middle-class flavour at Anmer Hall. You can bet your bottom dollar they will be doing proper presents for each other and the kids there on Christmas Day.”
But while the alternative Christmas party has been labelled a 'coup' against the King, it's probably not that serious. In fact, the Wales family have often not attended the royal Christmas dinner and, in addition, will still, controversially, attend Balmoral for the family's annual Boxing Day hunt this year.
“It’s always been a slightly covert, rival Christmas party at their house, but it’s going to be much more obvious this year," a friend of William and Kate's explained, adding, "If they post pictures, it’ll be an official coup attempt.”
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