For the past two years, King Charles has hosted the large, pre-Christmas royal lunch at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II used to host the extended royal family (including royal-adjacents and non-titled family members) at Buckingham Palace for a lavish lunch about a week before Christmas. In fact, her pre-Christmas lunches always marked her last moments in London for the year – she would head to Sandringham soon after and stay in Norfolk until mid-February most years. Charles switched it up in his reign – the extended family is still invited, but he enjoyed hosting them at Windsor Castle.
Despite the fact that the Prince and Princess of Wales have lived on the Windsor estate since 2022, they refused to go to the pre-Christmas lunch for the past two years. Their absence has been notable, yet little was written about it. Then, suddenly, Charles decided to bring the lunch back to BP this year. And magically, the Wales family attended – not just a sedate-looking Peggington and Kate, but they brought their three kids too. And Nanny Maria. Super-weird. Kate wore an ugly, pussybowed dress and put a girlish bow in her hair. Charlotte “matched” her mother’s hair bow. Why do I feel like Charlotte is the one who loves bows and Kate is copykeening her daughter? Kate also wore her Van Cleef earrings, which she’s worn a few times.
Also in attendance: pretty much everyone except Andrew, basically. The Waleses. Nanny Maria. The Edinburghs. Princess Anne and Tim Laurence. Beatrice, Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank. A few of B&E’s kids? The Duke of Kent. Princess Alexandra. Amelia Windsor. Freddie Windsor and Sophie Winkleman. Sarah Chatto. David Armstrong-Jones (Earl of Snowdon) arrived via bike. It looked like an especially big gathering. That’s one way in which Charles is like his mother – he actually likes having the whole extended family around for certain events. Just not his mixed-race family! And he doesn’t want any of these people on the balcony.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Getty.
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince George Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: Princess Charlotte Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Princess Charlotte Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- Royal family christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace Featuring: Prince Louis Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Dec 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
Scooter looks grim. Keen is smiling away.
He looks like he is paying attention to the road and not the cameras. Also, is Kate vintage shopping? Can you buy 80’s knockoffs new?
You can if they are designed by Alessandra Rich. Kate shopped her own closet for this one, it’s from 2019.
Don’t get me started on how Vogue claims Kate wears vintage.
Where is zara, mike and their kids?
Peg looks so very excited to be going with his beloved wife!! (Not)
No festive glance or even a smile from the royal love birds? Why is Wilbur grim as a grinch at Christmas? Could it be he’s on Santa’s naughty list again?
I scrolled down way too fast and landed on the Freddy Windsor photo. My god 😱
Right? He looks like a coke ghoul.
Tales from the Crypt vibes…
Bah! Lol, I wondered who raided the family crypt.
Freddy’s daughter looks just like him
He is very unfortunate-looking.
My armchair diagnosis is the bags under Freddy’s eyes are from food sensitives. I’m guessing dairy or gluten. Some should really suggest an elimination diet to see if that scary situation can be improved.
I think its weird they went this year when it was at BP but not when it was at Windsor the past two years. I also find it weird that apparently all these kids are just missing school for a christmas lunch. I know they’re royals and the rules are different but why not do it on a Saturday?
Anyway Nanny Maria is back. there was some speculation that she was gone from the Wales but apparently not and I’m assuming she got one of the cottages on the estate. There were comments on FB about how she had to be there in case Charlotte needed to be escorted to the bathroom and Kate was busy hosting. A lot to unpack in that theory lol.
They all go to private schools so I expect they are on school holidays already. Private schools tend to get 3 or 4 weeks holiday at Christmas, where as most state schools only get two weeks.
Oh that’s true! the fancy schools get a lot more time off lol.
A friend of mine used to say, “The more you pay, the less you go.”
The private or public schools as they are known in the uk are already on their breaks . I think most of them go back around the week of the 9th .
Yeah, Nanny Maria! There was so much speculation if she was still around or not. Well, speculation over. And she’s photographed at the Christmas party. Interesting.
Her life seems sad to me.
I’d like to think it’s not but idk. I bet she loves those kids though. I hope she gets paid well with a lot her own holidays.
I am sure Nanny Maria clears more than $200K (USD) a year.
Given that everyone seems to be there, I’m wondering if they are heading off the news of some new disaster in this family or they were sternly told to show up for Charles with some guilt-trip about the optics if this is his last Christmas.
This is Charles taking control of the family that was reported earlier. Now that he is doing somewhat better he is putting his foot down with the W and K. Start acting the the heir. I wonder if this means they will show up for the church walk on Christmas.
Ha! Tell Sykes that Charles is disciplining but he’s starting with the heir not the spare.
charlotte is 10 – does she really need someone to take her to the bathroom?
in a palace crawling with security??? these comments made it sound like someone was going to attack her in the bathroom.
like i said, a lot to unpack.
I used to babysit when I was 11 years old. Took a class at the library and everything.
Arthur Edwards confirmed that while William and Kate showed up with the three kids in the same car, only William, Charlotte and Louis (with Nanny Maria) were photographed leaving. Kate and George were not in the same vehicle when they left.
So nanny Maria was there because William doesn’t handle the younger kids on his own. And there knew there was a handoff that was going to happen.
How old is Louis now? He’s a cutie and seems to be pretty high energy. My youngest nephew and oldest niece are the same. I can see William not wanting to parent a high energy kid for hours on his own. He wants backup. I’m betting he needs help and can’t do it on his own. Or doesn’t want to.
Louis seems to be fine being quiet at things like the concert and the walkabout so it’s more likely that William isn’t as hands on as he claims.
So nanny maria wasn’t in the car when they arrived? So however she got to BP (I’m assuming through a less visible back entrance or something) is likely how Kate and George left. but how strange. Years ago, when William and George arrived separately, it was quickly explained by those strange “making pudding” pictures with QEII, Charles, William and George. Here there is nothing.
I don’t understand the necessity of a nanny for kids at a family Christmas party or why they are all dressed so formally for what should be a private family gathering… why is she there? It’s somewhat of a large gathering but it’s a relatively small gathering amongst family where kids should be allowed to play and interact with their siblings and cousins without needing a nanny with them. The nanny being there and their formal dress makes it seem boring and like something worth skipping.
@jais – or he is not allowed to “parent” without another adult around.
Who knows, @Josephine. A penny for nanny Maria’s thoughts on William. And Kate. And Carole.
It’s very strange that Maria was with them. Perhaps she was overseeing all of the children as a favor? Or maybe, William is dropping Maria and the kids off at FL and then heading to where ever it is that he lives.?
When you don’t have a job, everyday is Saturday.
Perhaps it’s in style, but I don’t like grown woman (40s) with bows in their hair.
I’m in my early 30s and I love wearing bows, but I do think that adult women need a certain something, like an edge to it, to pull off the look successfully. You can’t wear a bow with fluffy hair or little girl sausage curls and a fussy, prissy dress. And it’s always going to look particularly silly and childish if you’re matching your young daughter.
All I see in Kate’s hair is a huge hairpiece. Where is the bow?
The black bow is used to tie the top part of her hairpieces together.
Kate is fully participating in her infantilization because it lowers expectations for her on all levels.
Wills and Lord Freddie are slowly morphing into one grim visage
They sure are. I don’t think Willie is going to look like Charles in his old age.
All their talk of family, this and family that and school drop offs and on and on and on but there the nanny is in the back seat. They can’t have one day without help and they try to play the hands on two parent household. Another lie the Wails push.
Isn’t it that the adults are in one room for the lunch and the kids in another? I bet everyone’s nannies are expected to rein in the children.
Yeah, I can see that actually. An adult room and a kids room. Anyone with kids is probably expected to bring a nanny to help out with the kids room.
Well, the Windsors are (in)famous for not raising their own children but relying on the hired help to do that. Diana was an anomaly in that respect. William and Kate has curated this image of a hands-on “normal” family but I suspect that they are much less hands on than they claim. William is lazy and with his short temper he may not have the patience to deal with young children – and Kate, quite frankly, comes across as completely inept. She relies on her mother to a degree that is abnormal and I highly suspect that she has severe mental health problems that could very well interfere with her being an active parent. I remember an old polo incident when George was a toddler and Kate just sat by passively when he was toddling into an area that could be dangerous for a small child. I think it was one of the cousins that intervened and brought George back to his mother who just sat there the whole time. It was extremely odd. She may have had post-partum problems that did not get treatment because the Windsors think mental health problems are weakness.
Overall, this family is just plain weird from the POV of most people. It is probably perfectly normal for them to rely on nannies in situations that would make no sense for most of us. They live in a strange insulated bubble of privilege that lags behind the times because of the inherently conservative nature of the institution and because of the extreme longevity of Elizabeth II.
I really appreciate how Meghan spoke about how much she appreciated her nanny…especially for the times when she is working. In this case, it seems that Eugenie brought her nanny too bc there’s car pics and apparently the scandal is that her nanny has a nose ring and dyed hair. And there was a comparison between this nanny and the Wales nanny. LOL. It’s just funny bc we don’t normally get so many pics of the nannys. But yeah I guess we see more when we have the party at BP, good times for the rota anyways. In terms of the Wales family, I can believe they are “hands on” at times and that they are also not “hands on” for much more time than they lead the public to believe. And agree that I can see William struggling with patience. I’m trying to imagine if I was rich with a nanny would I bring the nanny to the party if I wanted to catch up with family. Maaaaybe. But I’d still be interacting with my kids too. I just think it’s a requirement coming from Charles and the courtiers. There’s probably a rule of keep the kids over there please.
I don’t think it’s just the Windsors; it’s all of the rich aristocrats. Once I brought my two small children to Holland Park to play. I sat on a bench supervising and feeling poor since the other mothers were better dressed than me. Then a child came crying to one of the other women and she said, “Let Nanny fix it!” Great, I’m less well dressed than the rich people’s servants. Snort.
Ha! When even the nannys are dressed nice. It’s just funny bc we’re all such plebs. Totally confused by why is the nanny there??? And it’s just oh yeah, that’s how the upper class roll.
I find it odd that they have a nanny and their youngest is 7. I know working parents who hire nannies because they have multiple kids and JOBS. The Wales’ barely work and they don’t work because of school runs and needing to be home when the kids are there. So why do they need a nanny in the first place?
It’s weird that they’d be willing to go to Buckingham Palace but not Windsor, unless they were just pointedly trying to ” punish” Charles. Why did they bring the nanny though? They were going to a family event, both parents were there, and their kids are between almost 8 and 13 years old. It’s not like coming here could be added fun for Maria. I could see bringing her along to the Taylor Swift concert, she may just legitimately enjoyed being out and going to that. Christmas dinner? Weird.
Right? It’s a little bizarre. BP but not WC. Hey maybe it’s closer for William if he’s staying at KP, lol.
Kate and George didn’t leave with William so Maria was there to handle Charlotte and Louis for William.
Heaven forbid the man has to had 2 children by himself–my husband could handle all 3 of our boys when they were younger than that.
William is a child.
What is there to handle? They barely work because they have to be such hands on parents, but he can’t be alone with an 8 and 10 year old? I don’t get it. They don’t need your help bathing, they don’t even really need your help eating. At 8 and 10 they’re watching tv, reading by themselves, or outside playing and need minimal supervision. Especially since they apparently live somewhere where no one can approach within 2 miles.
Keen looks like she is dressed up as a tween girl from an old movie. I’m not saying someone specific, just that the outfit is very costumy. Does she have white pantyhose on with black patent leather mary janes? Here is your fashionista, British Vogue!
Keen may be trying to channel Victorian times when the daughters and granddaughters wore those ribbons in their hair for family portraits
As Miranda said above, there’s a way to wear these things as an adult. Kate just doesn’t have that way (and I take a sick joy from her hideous clothing. It’s as if there’s a germ of an idea there but she goes about it all wrong). Diana wore white tights and black pumps with a red dotted dress, so this is probably more Diana cosplay.
I’m in a very festive holiday mood so all I can say is it’s good the family got together and I hope they enjoyed each other’s company.
At one point Charlotte was in the front seat next to William and then Kate was in the front seat, when did Kate get picked up? And did they really need to bring the nanny to a lunch that probably only lasted about an hour and a half? I have many questions.
Maybe this is another family occasion where the kids are separated from the adults in a different room and Kate wants Maria there to keep an eye on them.
Although the whole fam arrived together, later Wills left with just Charlotte, Louis and Nanny Maria. No idea where Kate and George went, but looks like its Peggy’s week with the kids.
Huh. That seems weird, right? Maybe George had an appointment or meeting in London? But then why wouldnt they still leave together and then split up? Maybe George and Kate went directly to….somewhere else….via helicopter from BP and William has the other kids at KP for the week?
Very good catch. Why didn’t Kate leave from the same place as everyone else? Did they pick her up at Forest Lodge?
And that big hair bow on a 40-something woman—so often she infantilizes herself by dressing like a toddler. My bleeding eyes. Didn’t she wear a big black bow last Christmas or the Christmas before, first on her neck at Carols and then later in her hair? It was criticized then, but the tabloids found a way to praise it for being an accessible Jigsaw biweekly
Arthur Edwards, a photographer, confirmed that kate and George weren’t with the rest of them when they departed. They managed to leave without being photographed.
Interesting he explicitly confirmed this too.
Andrew was probably there, let’s be honest.
I’m not surprised they still have a nanny but am surprised they can’t go to a family lunch for a couple of hours without her??
Andrew was definitely there. Kate and George took off without photographers catching that so it’s clear people can come and go and not be seen.
I am not going to lie, nanny Maria looks like she been raising those 3 children single handed for 10 years straight. That woman looks extremely exhausted like she literally does it all. Nanny Maria gets my sympathy.
its weird that we didn’t hear about her through Kate’s cancer “journey.” Like in any of Kate’s statements or videos, she could have mentioned how having support around her made her journey easier, including the wonderful Nanny Maria who has been a part of their family unit for over a decade. Or something. But it seems like for a few years they tried to pretend she didn’t exist anymore.
Is she friendly with the nanny or does Maria know her place because Kate keeps ordering her about?
She didn’t thank anyone, hasn’t specifically mentioned anyone who helped her ever since. She only hinted that she was probably treated in the Royal Marsden, but that’s it, right? Why would Maria get a mention when no one else does. Plus that wouldn’t fit into their whole narrative.
Kate didn’t thank her because that would be decent, but there was a brief reference to Nanny Maria being with the kids around the time we first her about the abdominal surgery. But then it got quiet because when William wasn’t visiting Kate, it would make people wonder what exactly he was doing.
And pretend that they aren’t “just like us” and her sole source of support and childcare was Carole? Never! But I agree with you, she should. There’s a lot of things she should say about that interlude, including ripping the media’s treatment of her and her illness, but won’t because they’ll uncover the rocks.
@Nic919 that’s more what I mean I think. I know she wasnt going to acknowledge Maria (I mean she barely acknowledged her medical team) but it was like Maria’s presence was hushed up big time for a few years there so to see her so prominent here is kind of puzzling to me. She wasn’t needed at the carol service or the church walks but is needed for this event? or is she needed for what they were doing next?
Or was she there and not photographed? I think that when the event is so photographer heavy and short, they don’t have her seen. But she could be nearby, out of sight. At the same time though, the nannys were very clearly seen going to the party with the families. It feels like they could have avoided that but didn’t. I don’t know the logistics though.
Making a 10 year old or however old he is wear a suit and tie to a family holiday party is so stupid
Peg is lazy. So maybe, because he probably lives in Kensington palace, he went this year because it was held close by at BP. He doesn’t look happy to be there though. Everyone else is smiling for the cameras.
Wait, is that a rewear? Has she got on the pigeon flinch dress??
Exactly..I mentioned it before I saw your comment..interesting choice, hmm.
For sure!
KP tries hard to silent any rumours about William’s bad relationship with his father that’s why they all appeared together and he looks pretty grim..there’s definitely a competition going on between the 2 palaces and the Wales are doing everything to win it (remember, Kate’s appearance the other day after Charles announcement and now this). Anyway, Kate is probably wearing the dress she wore when she shrugged William several years back (interesting choice, isn’t it?). Lastly, why did they bring the nanny Maria with them? Aren’t they capable to care about their children for a couple of hours? After all, they aren’t babies anymore. Unless nanny Maria accompanies the children when they visit William? And, why did they put Charlotte on the front seat and the nanny at the back? I guess the hired help is not allowed to seat next to William…nice family/s
One day somebody is going to explain *everything* about WanK and I bet it will be a doozy…
That will be a glorious day!! I can see Louis opening the floodgates from years of emotional neglect, emotional distress and lifelong trauma from the treatment of him as opposed to his elder siblings, who have been treated differently as opposed to his own childhood. It has been apparent since Louis the beginning of his life that he has been treated differently as we can look back and see it. Louis will most expose the emotional pain and neglect, as neglectful as his parents are towards him.
And Peg is incapable and unwilling to be an active parent to his children with the exception of George.
Re Will & Freddie: those Windsor genes are absolutely brutal once you pass 40.
Fortunately for Harry, the Spencer genes prevailed.
Harry got a ton of Battenberg and Glucksborg genes from Philip. People always forget his genetics. The Danish and Russian royals the Greek royal family descended from were known for their looks and his paternal grandfather Louis Battenberg was a very handsome man.
@ Bqm, Harry has fortunately been gifted in many more ways than just his good looks, nature and charismatic charm! He has the wife, the admiration of not only the public but the military as well than his lackluster, insufferable and miserable brother. Harry will always be the better of the two simply down to his nature and character, both of which his brother neither posses nor obtain on his own due to his own insecurities and ego.
So they all just drive range rovers? They must get them half off lol
I think they do. There’s some sort of extremely steep discount.
Yes. Land Rover Jaguar, the parent company has a Royal Warrant, which as far as I know means “Royal Family gets our stuff for free.” (but no “freebies,” amirite?) It was bruited about before Kate’s disappearance that she would get to issue her own Royal Warrants but apparently that was shelved for a while…
Norman Baker’s new book, Royal Mint National Debt, has a whole chapter on royal warrants, where he says everyone suspects the royals get freebies or steep discounts, so he calls for transparency.
They also get new models every few years too.
Very interesting all the kids smiling and looking ok at the flashing camera. Suddenly kids are not camera shy in the car but rest of time when it’s time to work they have the same grim as their lazy parents.
No, this is Charles playing the media game. Having the luncheon at Windsor decreases the chances of seeing who attends. By having it at BP the press gets pictures of all the members of the family including William and Kate who was able to skip it the last 2 years.
Good call, I think you’re right. This basically forced W&K to attend. the past two years there were always some who said “they attended but weren’t seen bc they live at windsor.” here there was no doubt that they attended and I think that was Charles forcing their hand here.
Okay, that’s funny. So basically the Wales showed up this year bc the rota can photograph who goes into BP so it would be more conspicuous if they skipped. No wonder the Wales dislike London. Checkmate, Charles.
Can’t the boys wear nice sweaters? I think it’s ridiculous they have George always dressed like he’s about to attend a corporate meeting in a navy suit. On the other hand though, my 4 year old grandson loves a tie and a button up shirt, even though his dad never wears them. He likes to dress formally. No one knows why but anyway, maybe George does too. I still want to see a sweater!! Haha
My son when little used to refuse to take off his school blazer and tie after school. He’s 31 now and loves his Jermyn St suits.
I hope Charlotte rebels against the mom-daughter lookalike wardrobe. Joan Crawford would dress up Christina, her daughter in a lookalike outfit for instance; other film stars went in for the lookalike appearances also.
It’s kind of wild that the kids still have a nanny. For what purpose? Genuinely asking.
Technically, if William had a work meeting later in the day then the nanny would be there for the kids during that time. Louis is still pretty young. The issue is we all know William doesn’t have a work meeting. Please.
Less nanny, more babysitter.
It’s puzzling. Can they not trust the kids to sit and behave themselves? If the meal runs long, isn’t there adequate staff on-site to move the “kids” to a different room for appropriate activities?
I agree that this smell of it’s Dad’s weekend for custody, and he needs Nanny Maria to do the parenting and associated logistics.
Charles called back Harry and William’s nanny, Tiggy, after their mother died. It was one of his rare good moves at the time, because it gave them a maternal figure. Does William have Maria serving the same function when he has the kids?
They’d also had a much loved nanny Olga Powell who was with them 15 years. William canceled an engagement to attend her funeral in 2012. Harry was in Afghanistan when she died but named a welcome center after her at the Mamohato Children’s Center in Lesotho.
Coincidentally Tiggys mother Shan, one of Anne’s closest friends and someone who was herself close to William and Harry, just died a day ago. Anne was photographed as looking pretty grim yesterday.
https://www.tatler.com/article/remembering-shan-legge-bourke-a-close-friend-of-the-royal-family-whose-daughter-was-william-and-harrys-nanny
So i know one or two families that still have “nannies” for older kids – think between 8-13 age wise – and its because the parents either work a lot of hours or work long shifts. So two doctors who are married to each other have one because they cant always make sure the kids get to sports practices or are picked up from school etc. But thats not the case with W&K.
The have full-time (almost) live-in nannies because that is what the Windsors do. If they don’t farm out all the child care to the hired staff, the they most likely farm out all the aspects that they find boring or too much work. These people don’t live and have never lived lives that even remotely resemble what we consider normal.
Very much a white Christmas!
Meg and her children wouldn’t have been welcome.
I assume that at the Christmas lunch, the children have their own lunch in a separate room in which case nannies would be required to supervise. So are the Wales kids still at the kids’ table (perhaps George has been promoted to adults table) with the other children? However, there doesn’t seem to be many other children arriving. Did Eugenie and Beatrice arrive together without their families? Is it possible George and Louis are spending the week-end in London at Kensington Palace? It seems like William doesn’t get all three children at once and George gets dad to himself? It seems like George and Charlotte were pretty close. In fact, wasn’t there a lot of commentary on how Charlotte seemed more mature and helped guide George at public events? Or if they get to take turns having Dad to themselves, I shudder to think of poor Louis’ weekend with dad. He’s not quite old enough to go to a football game with just dad.
The theory about a childrens’ table or even a childrens’ room makes good sense. But as you say, it’s not clear why Charlotte and William arrived (or left?) with Maria. Does Maria have to accompany Charlotte on her weekends alone with William?
So I just mentioned above that a woman who is assumed to be Eugenie’s nanny is in the car with them. But there are no pics of her kids which makes sense. It’s pretty clear the rota has been respectful of not taking pic of the York princesses’ kids. Not that they would treat the sussex kids that way. The Winkleman’s kids were photographed in the backseat though. I didn’t see pics of the Tindalls or the Phillips though. Maybe they were able to avoid the cameras or they didn’t attend?
I cannot knock them for bringing the Nanny this year. For the first time our friend group hired a babysitter to help out with the kids during our annual holiday reunion party. It was the BEST and I cannot believe we didn’t do it sooner. Granted this was for a group of kids all under 8 but it was still a God send to all the moms.