In years past, the Princess of Wales’s Together at Christmas event has guaranteed at least three days of royal gossip, usually about clothes and the Wales kids. This year was different – Kate’s McQueen coat was a repeat (she added a giant bow for some reason) and there didn’t seem to be a send-a-message-to-Meghan color coordination. This year, Kate’s husband stepped all over her newscycle – Prince William went to Paris on Saturday and met with Donald Trump, and that became a much bigger story this weekend. It frankly overshadowed Kate’s thing. So People Mag’s new exclusive should absolutely be read as “don’t forget about meeeee!”

Kate Middleton’s carol service was about a lot more than singing seasonal songs. On Friday, Dec. 6, 1,600 guests fill the pews at Westminster Abbey in London to attend Kate’s fourth annual Together at Christmas concert, which recognized hard work done to help communities throughout the U.K.

Jenny Powell, who helps people with disabilities in her town of Abergavenny in South Wales, tells PEOPLE, “It was like saying, ‘We do acknowledge you.’ ” Since the COVID pandemic, Mrs. Powell set up a group, The Gathering, to do craft-making, provide sensory spaces, offer cooking opportunities and partake in bingo. “In our group, everyone understands everyone else,” she says.

At Kate’s Together at Christmas concert, the royal placed a letter on each seat that summed up the theme of love and kindness. “It was a gorgeous letter,” Mrs. Powell says. “It really showed her appreciation of what we’re all doing. It was quite touching and brought tears to my eyes. These things that I’ve been doing have impacted the lives of people I’ve been supporting, but knowing that the royal family is aware of these little things is lovely.”

Mrs. Powell recalls the steel drum band playing and servers handing out mince pies at the event, as well as a “kindness tree,” which was positioned near the door. There, helpers handed out red labels and pens “so you could write a note to hang on [the tree] before you went in,” she says.

When Princess Kate, Prince William and their three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — arrived, “They looked so happy together,” Powell says.

“It’s been a hard year, but she put that brave face on and she looked absolutely gorgeous,” she adds of Kate, 42, who recently completed chemotherapy after her cancer diagnosis.

[From People]

I’ll say some nice things, actually – it’s wonderful that Kate invites local activists and advocates to this event. It’s nice that each attendee gets a letter from Kate. It’s nice that this event is organized as some kind of thank you to people like Jenny Powell. The thing is… when people like Powell are invited, do they have to pay out of pocket to go to London and attend this event? Like, take off work, drive to London from South Wales (or take a train), probably stay in a hotel for a night? We never hear about who’s picking up those costs, probably because the guests pay for it themselves.

This is a compilation of all of the videos of Kate at the event, and you can hear her talk/mumble to various performers and celebrities. I saw some people noting that she arrived separately – she always does that, so she can have a separate moment to greet various VIPs. It’s basically the only time this happens at any event.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.