Why we won’t see King Charles make this special Christmas Eve appearance

There’s a simple reason why we won’t see King Charles make a special Christmas Eve appearance this year.

The festive period is one of the most private times for members of the Royal Family, as outside of their Christmas Day walk to church wrapped up in their best winter coats, they're rarely seen in public. There is another exception to this tradition as for the past few years there’s been one festive event that means fans get to see the royals on 24th December. This year will be different as King Charles won’t be making this special Christmas Eve appearance alongside the likes of Prince William and Kate.

The Princess of Wales’s Together at Christmas carol concert was recorded at Westminster Abbey on 8th December, but it’s not set to be broadcast until Christmas Eve. Whilst King Charles attended in 2022, this year he was absent from the service and so fans won’t get to spot him if they tune in on the 24th.

His Majesty’s arrival at the service in particular was seen in several heart-warming clips at the beginning of last year’s Together at Christmas carol concert, but this year he was in Gloucestershire on the day it was recorded. King Charles was at his Highgrove House home hosting a festive-themed Celebration of Craft event.

The King met graduates, tutors and students and got to see the work that came from The King's Foundation's craft programmes. These included the School of Traditional Arts, the Building Arts Programme and the Metiers d'Art Fellowship. As revealed by the Royal Family’s caption after they shared several snaps from the day, graduates from the programmes “typically go on to help conserve and create some of the UK’s most important historic buildings”.

They also apparently often act as “flagbearers for crafts at risk of being lost” and the King’s Foundation considers it to be “crucial” to help preserve the “wisdom and knowledge that embodies many of the traditional building skills”. Given how important this event was and that King Charles founded the King’s Foundation in 1976, it’s not surprising that he attended the Celebration of Craft.

It’s not known when the dates for this and the Princess of Wales’s carol concert were put together, but it’s possible this was a prior commitment. He wasn’t there in person this year, but the King likely still made his support for Kate’s carol service known to her. His absence means King Charles won’t be making an appearance at Westminster Abbey when the service is broadcast, but fans can look forward to seeing a lot of royals when it airs on Christmas Eve.

Plenty of the late Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren were there including Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips. The Duchess of Edinburgh, Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto were also there, as were, of course, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children.

Many of them will no doubt appear in some shots of the final televised carol service on Christmas Eve. The day it’s broadcast the royals will be gathered together in person again too at Sandringham House and will enjoy their family tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve. Whilst fans won’t get to see His Majesty at Together at Christmas he’s expected to be seen walking to church the next day to attend the Christmas Day service.