Well, this is an interesting development. Apparently, for the first time since they got married, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are not going to spend Christmas at Sandringham with the Queen and the royal family. They are going to spend Christmas at Middleton Manor in Bucklebury, Kate’s family home. Around this time every year, there’s always a conversation about Kate and her family and whether they’ll be included in the royal family’s activities and what have you. Ever since the Queen gave Anmer Hall to Will and Kate, the entire Middleton clan decamps there every Christmas, and Will and Kate split their time between the Windsors and the Middletons. This year, they’re doing something different.
He as spent the past week showing his girlfriend Meghan Markle the delights of London, but Prince Harry will cut a rather lonelier figure when he joins the Royal family for Christmas at Sandringham this year.
Not only will he be without Miss Markle, who will have flown back to the US to be with her mother, but he will also lack the company of his brother the Duke of Cambridge, sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
For only the second time since they married in 2011, the Duke and Duchess have decided to spend Christmas with the Middleton family at their home in Bucklebury, Berks.
It means the only relatives of Prince Harry’s generation will be his cousin Zara Tindall and her husband Mike, who are expected to attend with their daughter Mia.
By the way, People Magazine’s write-up of this story made it sound like George and Charlotte were just going to jet off to Middleton Manor by themselves. That’s clearly not the case – the Cambridges are making the choice to ALL spend the holiday with the Middletons. I have a range of thoughts on this. First of all, of course this would be no big deal if we were talking about a normal, un-royal couple. Plenty of families “choose” which side of the family to spend Christmas with. But for royalty, and even more specifically, for the future king, to not spend Christmas at Sandringham is a big deal. To “choose” your un-royal in-laws over the Queen’s Germanic Christmas? It’s rarely done. I also wonder if this is just another way for William to bash his father – Charles already complains about not spending time with his grandkids, and now Charles won’t even get to see them for Christmas.
Of course, there’s another thought… what is going on with Kate? I’ve been getting such weird vibes from her for a few months now. Maybe this “return to the Middleton nest” is about a lot more than we realize.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Well Kate needs her mommy.
IDK, it sounds like Peter Phillips and the Yorks aren’t going either so maybe things are more relaxed for this generation?
I think Kate is pregnant- thats when they spent xmas with her parents last time
I’m feeling the “something is up” vibe
Me too. I hope they don’t separate, but that’s the kind of feeling I’m getting…
Her mother wants that Kate will be Queen one day, so no, there will be no divorce.
Doesn’t seem to make sense with this. Separation makes sense if William was at Sandringham and Kate was at her mother’s. As of now, I think it’s not easy married to William but I don’t think Kate will ask for separation.
I get it if your grandmother is not funding your lifestyle. But the fact is she is (and maybe funding your in laws too), so suck it up. Yes yes I know technically taxpayers are doing the funding but you know what I mean.
I think Carole wants to play therapist again. When they were dating William would come downstairs in the morning, as Kate slept, and talk to Carole of hot cocoa. I think she is going to find out what is going on and what William wants. Then she’ll give her daughter her marching orders to keep him happy at all costs.
Also, they could be going to the Middleton home so William has an excuse to once again dump his wife and children. The animal rights activist would hate to miss the Boxing Day hunt.
The other thing that makes this different from regular families is this is the one time of the year the Queen can have her family all under one roof and spend time with them. Both her and Prince Phillip are getting older and only have so many Christmases left. Also, soon I’d imagine the event will be scaled down to suit there needs despite her love of her Christmas traditions.
Even in a normal family it would be odd to have one side practically living with them and given unfettered access and that side still gets picked for Christmas even though it is a rare opportunity to see their uncle, cousins, great aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents.
If anything, this news makes a separation seem really unlikely. I mean, William is choosing to spend the holiday with Kate and her whole family. He could easily spend it away from them if he wanted.
I agree with the poster below – I think it’s more about Mike and Carole, and Kate wanting to support her mom during possibly her first single Christmas in a long time.
It may just be something as simple as the fact that its Pippa’s last Xmas as a singleton & able to spend time alone with her family, that’s why its a gathering of the clan. I expect
William wil be back at Sandringham for boxing day, as for Kate & the kids, I expect they’ll stay as long as they can, after all there’ll be wedding plans to discuss ( who knows maybe Mike & James will sneak off with wills )!
I think there might be trouble in Mike and Carole’s marriage..
It was reported in the European press that they were getting divorced and the Carole was living full time at Amner ‘helping’ Kate with the kids and running her household.
I think Carole and Mike are separated and are living separate private lives but I don’t think they will ever divorce as if they do, Carole can kiss goodbye to any ideas of a hereditary title (which she is desperate for). A title will be bestowed upon Mike (its a male thing) not her, thou she could get a marchioness but she won’t settle for that lesser title and will want to make sure that it gets passed to James.
Me, too. I wonder if he expected Carole to stop stage managing Kate’s life once she married William.
She gets the title of Queen Mother when Kate becomes Queen, (William will see to it) whether she is divorced or not, right?
If Mike and Carol do get a title, does it come with an income?
Queen Mother isn’t really an official title, I think, unless granted by the sovereign. But in any case, it does not apply to Carole: she will never be queen herself, and thus never queen mother. The mother of the consort has no title.
Had Diana remained married to Charles, Charles had been crowned, and Diana survived him, she would have been eligible as the mother of the king (William.) Camilla, should Charles be crowned and she survive Charles, will retain the title of queen, the same way a duchess retains her title, but would take precedence behind Kate. When Elizabeth was crowned both her mother and grandmother were still alive and retained their titles: google ‘three queens in mourning’ to see the famous picture of Elizabeth, Elizabeth, and Mary at George Vi’s funeral.
It says this is only the second time since marriage Will and Kate have eschewed Sandringjam Xmas….I think the first was when she was pregnant with George? Maybe she is pregnant and sick again perhaps. But so weird because Amner Hall is right there at Sandringam….. And how many Christmases does the Queen have left…..
And chridtmas day is the only day in the year that she allegedly doesn’t work and spends it with family members.
You’re right, I didn’t even think of that.
Morbid to say, but this could be Elizabeth’s–or even more likely–Philip’s last Christmas?!
This. I think Wills and Kate should be considering that too. For sure could be Philip’s last Xmas but possible for QE as well-though she seems disgustingly healthy.
This is just what I thought. Squeeze out one day for the Royal relatives–the clock is running down.
It isn’t really the second time they haven’t “done” Sandringham. They have deigned to show up for the pap stroll a couple of times, but by accounts, they didn’t participate in most of the royal Christmas.
They showed up for the photo ops (church, lunch), sometimes with the Middletons in tow, then left to be with the Middletons at Anmer. Even when they show up, it is only for brief periods and not as full participants.
Or they are doing what a lot of couples with children are doing and switching it up. One year your side of the family and next year my side of the family .
Me too – as lazy as she is, I still hope she’s okay and the sausage curls are back to bouncin’ into Harvey Nichols before long.
What’s going on with Kate? I’ve been saying here for a year now – she has an eating disorder and bad anxiety. Since I saw that Vogue shoot, I have been convinced she has an ED, and she definitely shows all the signs of anxiety.
Kate definitely got more than she realized in this marriage. I don’t know if they will last.
I agree with you. I think the mental health issue is Kate. William is a spoiled brat who wants as little to do with Royal life as possible, but with Kate being not mentally strong, he has a ready made excuse which no one can call him on.
Obviously i’m not Kate’s gynecologist, but I suspect that she might suffer from endometriosis or polycystic ovaries….I really think she might have very legitimate health issues that lie in the female reproductive category. It’s something, obviously. But there there has been a certain pattern of behavior in the past few years that I don’t think ER would let slide unless she was aware that Kate was battling something physically or mentally.
I’m sorry but what in the world makes you think she has PCOS? What a ridiculous speculation. She literally has none of the physical symptoms and for a woman over 30 she doesn’t seem to have any problems getting or staying pregnant. She deserves a lot of the criticism she gets and it’s fair enough to think something is not right, but this is really outlandish.
Oh really? What do you know about her symptoms? Obviously your knowledge of these afflictions is limited at best and “outlandishly” speculative. I have them both. I am over 30 and have gotten pregnant twice in a three year span. And I have THREE children. My second pregnancy was with twins. Zero family history, no fertility intervention. During an exploratory surgery, my surgeon found stage four endometriosis that has been active for 22 years. It has spread to my hips, my bowel, bladder, and liver. My left ovary is covered in the disease and they also suspect that there is diseased tissue that has attached to my ribs. You CAN have these issues that will progressively affect your ability to function and limit your life without anyone having any clue that something might be amiss because everything is internalized and it is almost impossible to discern what is causing various symptoms without doing exploratory surgery. I was in pain for YEARS, suffered from extreme fatigue, debilitating migraines, and very irregular cycles. I was misdiagnosed with post-partum depression, anxiety disorder, even ADHD. But since I had was able to get pregnant, my doctors didn’t even consider the reproductive issues until my health significantly declined this spring.
Major Thomassina: Just because you have these issues does not mean Kate does.
How does 15 solid years of being proven selfish and lazy suddenly become physical or mental illness? Count me bemused.
notasugarhere wins the thread—best comment ever!!!!
this is just W/K being W/K because…well, they are W/K. no mystery.
I am German and most people I know don’t have a “germanic christmas” any more but rather the “normal” christmas 😉 Queenie seems a bit old-fashioned. Traditions in Britain seem to get in the way of having a good family life.
As for the Middleton Christmas: Carole and Kate must know and understand that they rip apart the Royal Family by doing this. W and K can not carry the Royal Family thing on their own so why do this?
If Granny Carole doesn’t get a hereditary title Granny Queen won’t see her great-grandchildren for X-mas any more? And Katie Bucket Dolittle wants a new car and a private jet of her own? Whiney William doesn’t want to work so hard any more?
Boy, Queen and William made a mistake by allowing the marriage to Kate Middleton.
Who said Queenie allowed it? He never asked her permission (as legally he should) but only told her he got engaged to Kate a couple of hours before the press conference announcing it to the world but then it was too late and she couldn’t say no.
Its long been speculated that William only married her to a) spite his father and b) because she was the only woman willing to as he’s really that bad of a catch.
I have always wondered about that story that William failed to ask permission. It seems much more likely that he DID discuss the decision with his father and grandmother prior to his flying down to Kenya with Kate to propose. After all, he made arrangements to remove the ring from wherever it was stored and he has spoken about planning out the proposal in some detail.
There were rumors flying around for months that the announcement was imminent and they later stated that the original announcement had been delayed by the death of Kate’s grandfather as well. Perhaps William had the Queen’s approval well in hand and it was only the date and time of the press conference that was kept secret in order to prevent any further potential leaks.
I have no way to predict what may come for the Cambridge’s and their marriage but I do believe there has been a considered decision for them to maintain a low key presence. After the damage done both to the Royal Family and Diana herself I think it is possible they have taken the stance that they do not want Kate caught up in the maelstrom of popular notoriety. Rather deal with the grumblings of those who feel they aren’t pulling their weight then feed the beast of the insatiable tabloid press.
When I wrote “the Queen allowed it” then it should be red as “the Queen didn’t openly aggressively oppose it”. Passive permission. Probably a gruelling permission because she knew what would happen.
The Queen isn’t stupid and she has seen many marriages in and into the aristocracy. I think she hoped for William to find somebody better. Even “Prinz Pils” Wilhelm of the Netherlands found a brilliant wife and he was known for being a party prince.
@Julaine – their engagement matches exactly the one of one of his friends that was published in a society mag (can’t remember which one) a few months before they announced their engagement. They blatantly ripped it off, plus William is NOT romantic. Kate struggled to keep to the story during that engagement interview.
Given how much it took everyone by surprised i have always suspected he proposed a few days before it was announced. There is no way that either they or the Middletons would have kept that one under their hat for any length of time.
What is wrong with William? Does he want to be King? Why does he dislike his family so much yet takes the perks?
You would think that Kate or her mother would insist that they spend Christmas w/ the Queen, knowing her children/grand might someday be Queen/King. It’s only 1 day, after they could spend w/ the Middletons. How inconsiderate and disrespectful William is. Who knows he might be like his great great uncle and abdicate too and that would leave Prince Harry to be King, who really would be a better King than his brother.
I don’t think he can abdicate their inheritance rights of George and Charlotte.
If they are under 18, it would be much easier but it is possible. There is no way that people would accept William walking away but keeping his children in line. Nor would the Windsors want such a PR nightmare. If W&K are unwilling to do the job, how on earth would they raise children who have any sense of duty?
If he walked, they’d find a way to eliminate his line from the succession.
I understand your point about traditions and formality standing the way of a good time but as Royals they NEED that tradition and formality to seem like more than just another family celebrating Christmas. Tradition is about the only thing keeping them around. So she can suck it up, buttercup. She knew the tradition and had a gist of what was expected from the RF at Christmas and a decade to get out.
Excellent point.
Royal tradition is a family meeting at Christmas.
And traditions could be slightly altered to accomodate more modern needs. But by completely refusing to see the Queen at Christmas they are ripping the family apart.
Amazing that Normal Bill always manages to be off duty for holidays. Also, if the kids are going to grow up royals, shouldn’t they spend more time around the royals? If the monarchy’s not going to last, then hang out at Middleton Manor and be done with it.
Not sure where this “German Christmas” thing came from but they most certainly have a very English Christmas (There’s a book about it written it entitled “Christmas as Sandringham” that talks about the traditons, what they eat and do, etc.) and this whole thing of calling the Royal family German is just so dumb and 2 centuries ago. Yes, Prince Albert was a German. Victoria was not. She was known as the “Most English” of all of the queens in her day (just because her Aunt married a German doesn’t make her German). Beyond that no German royals married into the BRF. They had a Germanic sounding name from their ancestors (just like I have a Dutch name from my ancestors but am maybe about 1/20th Dutch?) which they changed in WWI! The Queen’s mother is Scottish. Prince Harry and WIlliam’s mother was very English. They don’t have Germanic Christmases.
Christmas as generally celebrated, christmas tree and all, is a german tradition.
The English way of celebrating christmas was quite different. It was more a festival of music, dance and eating with all your neighbours. More a town celebration than family oriented. Any gift giving was strictly between legally tied people rather than family people eg a lord might give his tenants gifts and vice versa.
We also celebrated 12 days of Christmas rather than emphasise on one single day, but there was no speciality Christmas food, decorations or traditions.
When the Hanoverians came over, they brought their traditions of christmas trees, christmas food, decorations, cards.
The larger public didn’t adopt these traditions until Albert and Victoria publicised them via their annual self publicising narratives and these traditions were copied/incorporated into the english traditions. It’s not quite German anymore, but it is not English at all.
Later, Charles Dicken’s christmas tales started to influence the tradition as well. Especially the charity, family centred aspect of it
You’re not the only one who thinks that something is up with Kate. Something genuinely seems off with her, and has for quite a while. And it won’t be hard to figure out whether or not the Windsors have a problem with this Christmas plan since inevitably there’s a leak.
I haven’t been paying to this in the least; what seems off?
Kate is painfully thin, I’ve been think ED for a long time.
And I looked at the pics from yesterday, or the day before – and her eyes are really glassy and she seems somewhat out of it. I think she has anxiety as well and is maybe medicated?
She looked medicated at the memorial service for the Duke of a Westminster so I would not be surprised if she is. Her exaggerated smiles are probably because xanax and similar medications usually make people feel a bit disconnected from emotions and she is overcompensating her facial expressions to try to look like nothing is going on.
I thought that she was medicated or heavily botoxed on her wedding day. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. And while she seemed awake she seemed “dazed” while being awake.
And no, I don’t find it normal if a royal bride doesn’t give an honest smile and doesn’t radiate some over-the-top happiness.
Kate seemed too controlled.
Has the Telegraph ever heard of Beatrice and Eugenie? I doubt Harry will be miserable simply because the Cambridges are not there.
Right?!? Unless they are spending Xmas at the York Swiss Chalet but unlikely..
I would not be surprised if the Yorks skipped Sandringham this year. Photos of them on the way to church will reignite rumors about their father’s battle with Charles.
As the Yorks want their daughters to be working Royals I doubt they will skip Sandringham Christmas.
Or make the rumors worse by not being there. That would definitely look like a rift.
I know it’s mean but sometimes I think Carole Middleton has plans for the time after Queen Elizabeth is gone. Plans to have more control over the RF etc.
If Charles lives anywhere near as long as either parent, those plans will be on ice for awhile.
I really hope that this will be the case.
Charles doesn’t even have Queen Elisabeth’ balls when it comes to his family. So I doubt he could put a stop on Carole.
Come and sit with me, Mikasa, because I think you’re on to something…
Of course she has – she’s positioning herself as the next Queen Mother. However considering her brothers very dodgy criminal connections I don’t think she will get that much influence as the gov/establishment will take action to prevent it, if Chuck doesn’t when he is King.
I remember when William and Kate married some people said she was behaving like she is the Queen herself. Smug face and everything.
William is a weak man, so it’s possible that she will have more power over them.
That pic of Queen Mother Carole in red. I’m getting a vision of winged monkeys circling her car.
I was just about to say, she looks like a pantomime witch.
Yeah that picture is alarming and wicked witchy. “Poppies will make them sleep….poppies….”
William just needs to step aside and live a normal life as a Middleton and see how long Kate and family stick around.The Queen and Prince Phillip are older and who knows how much time they have left.Kate and Carole really seem to isolate William from his family .I don’t even think Harry and William are close anymore.Well if its not baby number 3 with Kate then something is off with the Cambridge family and the royals.The Doolittle-Middleton Clan are a weird bunch .
I agree with you, Erica. William really wishes he were a Middleton and Kate needs her Mommy, so the solution is Christmas at Middleton Manor. The problem, yet again, is the optics of the situation. William is the heir to the throne and isolating himself and especially his son, another heir to the throne, from the Royal Family and everything they represent is foolish. But Willnot wants to have his cake and eat it too. I truly hope the British public call him out on his workshy behavior and his Will Middleton persona soon and force him to either do his job or the gravy train stops for his family. If he wants to be a pleb, force his hand. He has to be shown that he can’t have it both ways.
I agree. We don’t know the reason why they’re not spending Christmas with the Queen, but they are in their 90’s and won’t be around too much longer. It seems rude and sad.
Honestly, I can’t think of anything more tedious than the formality of Sandringham at Christmas. And it’s not as if Kate and William would enliven the proceedings so… *shrug*
Yes but George and Charlotte would more than make up for that.
Perhaps, but if there’s no love lost between the parents and the in-laws – and that’s certainly the impression I get – then it’s kind of understandable that they’d prefer to have Christmas with their kids on their own terms.
If they would like to live life on their own terms, they are free to walk away from the two massive free mansions they live in. And all the perks they receive. And the $4 million a year allowance from the taxpayers via the Duchy. In exchange for roughly 100 hours of work a year.
They are employees of the Family Firm. Don’t want to do the simple thing of one day a year with the head of the firm? Then quit and give it all back. But stop accepting all the pay and perks of the job and keep kicking the head of the firm in the teeth.
While there is def something going on with Kate, this is another F U to TQ and Chuck, they’ve been withholding access to the kids for most of the year. They only went to Balmoral early in the year as a family is Duchess Carole and Mike got an invite too – I think the Mids were refused a request to dine with the RF in the big house and this is the DoLittles reply.
They are using those kids as weapons to get the Middleton’s into the Royal inner circle. Willy is being pushed by Carole for it as that is her dream and end game.
PS. Love the photo of Carole, seems she goes to the same ‘bueaty spa’ for her ‘work’ as Kate.
I wonder if Christmas would put William in the hot seat with both his grandmother and his father, in terms of his bad choices. And it’s not like he’s going to willingly listen to that.
Once The Queen passes, we all know the monarchy will be at its knees. I don’t even think William wants to be King anymore and Kate is one of the most non well prepared royal ever.
What’s with the idea of “withholding access”? It’s their kids, they can parent and have them visit with whom they see fit. At least in the US, there is no legal right of grandparents to see their grandchildren.
There is none in GB either.
I don’t think anyone is talking legally, just about doing the right thing.
That said, I don’t know if they have been withholding access.
I believe there is a law that can be used in the US that does grant grandparents access to their grandchildren. Heck , there’s even a national Grandparent Day!
My cousin was on the outs with her son and his new wife and successfully sued for granparental visitation for her and mother. (They had helped raise the kids when the dad was still a single parent.)
The only vibe I get is that they don’t want to do anything royal,or at least as little as possible, that way they get out of going to Church with the Royals and doing the little walk-a-thon which takes all of ten minutes. And if it is the second time they are doing it, then maybe there is no reason to worry. On the other hand, there could be something.
Emily Andrews article in February exposing William as Throne Idle had a paragraph saying it was the talk of Sandringham last Christmas that William was lazy. I suspect that may be at least partly behind this snub.
No card released & no walk to church = double snub to public.
The Mids will do a family pap walk to church, was done the last time they spent Xmas at Bucklebury. They had a pap outside to take some shots of them going in/coming out.
I”m calling that they will have a ‘royal’ pap walk at the same time as the RF’s walk.
The Middletons are the future of the RF – they have no intention of letting anyone forget it.
You’re probably right, but what a way (for Will) to completely miss the point and make a bad situation worse.
I thought part of the reason the queen gifted amner to them was so that William and Kate could do Christmas with both families. Did I make that up?
That is correct.
HM is 90 and Philip is 95. It could well be the last Christmas William gets to spend with them. What an ungrateful, arrogant ass he is.
They stayed with the Middleton’s the year they announced she was pregnant with George. Officially she was to poorly to go and participate in a couple of clothes changes with the Queen and the rest of the royal family. We also heard they were given Anmer for this sole purpose. Having the two families together during the holidays, But then that was when their primary residence was still meant to be KP.
I agree something is up. Am I the only feeling like Kate/Carole are playing a dangerous game that will not end well for them? Tread carefully, ladies.
Yes they are – TQ won’t do anything, Chuck however is a different story as he allegedly hate the Middletons, Carole in particular. When Chuck takes throne it will be interesting to see what happens.
Charles will have no leverage over Will & Kate imo. The press and public still has enough good will towards the lazy couple that Charles will look like a monster for trying to get them in line.
Chuck strikes me as rather weak, too. At the moment it looks like he is loosing his battle against Prince Andrew.
He didn’t manage to disencourage William with regards to marrying Kate. He is still the underdog against his OLD mother and father. It certainly is the Queen’s mistake to not let Charles do more reigning.
@Bitchy, don’t underestimate Charles.
@ Kitty
I don’t. I know about Charles’ black spider memos to governments. I know he is successful with this Duchy Originals stuff and agriculture (but he has a lot of help there.)
I really don’t think Charles is that successfull or that skilled in managing a Royal Family. Look at the Middleton mess. Look at the very long term Middleton mess. W and K not working but distancing themselves from the Royal Family. Do you think they will stay married? Ma Midds trying and vying and crying for a title. James Midds having one commerical failure after the next. Will Pips be able to cling to her millionaire if she can’t provide royal connections?
@Bitchy, well since Charles plans of slimming down the monarchy, if WK don’t work they will be called out by the media and public. Or maybe Charles and The Queen see Harry as an asset and will need him more than ever know.
The part that confuses me is how much a part of Kate’s life Carole is. I think about how weird that dynamic would be in my personal life if my mom were so involved in my marriage and children’s lives…
But then again, perhaps I’m married to a guy that wants to be a part of our little family, whereas William…seems a little disengaged. So she needs her mother, she has no one else. Sad.
They both seem incredibly dysfunctional in their own separate ways. Carole is very likely the glue that holds them together.
It doesn’t seem like Kate has any other friends. Just her mother. She has to be incredibly lonely.
Is this another example of how Kate is not as religious as The Queen is? Is Kate religious? William too?
In every pic you can see how much Carole loves herself.
I am in a tiny minority on this site that likes her and absolutely detests the superior snottiness directed at her, her background and her ambition.
In objective terms, she’s worked hard to get where she is and that’s not something you can say about most members of that entitled, dysfunctional family.
I like Carole. She did get to where she and her entire family is now through work and some luck. Even if Kate didn’t marry Will, they’d end up well. Putting your kids through great schools is no small achievement for someone from a humble background, especially in such classist society as U.K. I adore people who have ambition and are wiling to work for it. Oh, and actually the fact that Carole and Mike were able to raise and keep everyone so close to one another is another thing to be proud of.
@ Guesto
Could you describe the “hard” work that she delivered to get there? ;-P
Problem with ambition here is that Carole’s ambitions aren’t directed into a meritocratic direction. Nope, social climbing by marriage isn’t meritocratic. And even the money needed for that social climbing was likely a gift from Uncle Gary (who got shunned). So Uncle Gary’s merits (aka money) enabled the whole social climbing thing.
As for the expensive education: expensive and academic excellence isn’t the same here. A lot of these boarding schools take pupils out of the following considerations:
1. money, can pupil pay?
2. connections, habitus and status, does pupil have the “right” (snobbish) background and do some “important” people pull some strings for the pupil?
Academic achievement is not such a high priority. There are numerous examples of failing German pupils of well-off (snobbish) parents who send their kids to a British boarding school (in an act of despair). And those British boarding schools take them out of (financial) despair.
No joke here.
@ Apples – that won’t be a popular view. 😆
Amner is a few min drive from Sandringham! It would be so easy for them to be with the royal family on the 24th and have the midds to amner on the 25th for Xmas day. Something definitley up. I don’t think K is pregnant, fillers recently. Is Willy ditching family Xmas for a side piece? if K and kids went to sandringham without him for Xmas eve that would be so obvious, and he would look so bad. He hates to look bad. If they go to the midds he can do what he likes and Carole will tell K that she just has to deal and to not make a fuss.
You know this may not be a far off theory. What better way to cover up an affair and his laziness by keeping him away from his family who wants him to man up?!
Normal Bill and Katie Keen have a big fancy country manor that Kate loves to decorate for Christmas (remember all the PR on that last year?)
It’s bigger than the Midds house, big enough for the Midd family to camp out for a few days for sure. And Sandringham is just down the road, so they could pop in for the dutiful Christmas rituals, give the public the optics they want, and pop right back out to hang out with the Normal Midds for the rest of the time. All in the comfort of their own home.
In other words, it’s ideal. Yet they are decamping to Bucklebury for days.
Interesting choice.
Perhaps HM has made it clear that the entire Middleton clan is not welcome on her personal property (Anmer Hall and any part of the Sandringham Estate). The year they all seemed to show up and not leave for months? That was the year the housekeeper and groundsman quit after only 5 months on the job. Ran back to HM to get their old jobs back. I’m sure they had more than a few tales to tell HM about the Middleton antics.
Her cheeks in that picture look like they’re about to explode.
Also, it would still be a Nonpublic FU to Chuck and TQ as they would know from his security detail where he was/when/with whom, instead of being at Sandringham. Wonder what that old gf of his whose wedding he went to in Kenya is doing on the 24th?
I feel sorry for Jecca Craig. She is the subject of such nasty and undeserved gossip.
I firmly blame the Middletons for that gossip.
They sent out their pap on speed dial that Jecca was William’s Camilla at a time Kate had allowed herself to be pointedly papped alone on holiday with baby George while William was on a hunting trip with Jecca and others.
Since then media keeps hinting at some sort of involvement including the telegraph saying Jecca’s wedding was going to be ’emotionally difficult’ for William. I don’t think they described his own wedding to Kate with thise words.
It was also Tanna who broke the news that Jecca and Baillie were married in Sept/Oct 2015 before their son was born. That was on his twitter. The later Easter event was the celebration with friends not the legal ceremony. Wonder which Middleton slipped him that news?
I thought Kate was looking happier and healthier in these last photos. Maybe she got herself a side-piece???? LOL
I wouldn’t be surprised if they announce she’s pregnant, she always looks better and happier when she’s pregnant. All pregnancies are different so could be she’s not as sick this time.
And I love that cashmere sweater.
Kate always looks happier and healthier when she’s been refreshed. It’s not a negative for her to use botox and fillers, but without them her face is tired, haggard and droopy. She could be perfectly content and happy, but the natural cast to her face implies the opposite.
When she botoxes, her face lifts and comes alive. Ditto when she smiles.
Further, i doubt very much that Kate would show her true miserable face in public – see her media tour 2007 when William had broken with her, seemingly for good. She looked very happy indeed. You can’t find a single picture of that time of her looking miserable. Yet she told us in the engagement interview that she was devastated.
Without the tweaking she has a resting miserable face. I sympathise as I do to 🙁
Botox and fillers are supposed to be cumulative, you would think her face would look better in between refreshings. She does have a good doctor, though. It’s like night and day.
As there is no actual evidence that Kate has had fillers, there is a possibility that she could be pregnant. You can tell me I’m wrong but I predict a June baby.
Well I know it’s a big deal the Christmas night with the royals but let’s think about this in another optic. They have been married for 5 years and have spent more Christmas with his family than with hers. Tradition aside, she has the right to be with her family. If I am not mistaken others in the family have skipped that day too.
Also imagine this: 2 babies at home alone (because the Queen doesn’t allow small children there if I am correct) and different dress changes, staying on point all day long all ceremonial. I would skip that night too. And it’s not like they didn’t meet the Queen recently. I mean do they have to meet her all the time for special occasions. In the end she may be the Queen but she is his grandmother not his mother or father. I am more worried that he seems not to have a relationship with his father to be honest. He is never on the table. It’s Carole or the Queen never Chuck or Carole for the Christmas night.
As for Kate and something going on with her I think it’s the same old same old. She is not adapting to this life and Willy is not helping. He is adding more anxiety I think.
She spends all her time with her family.
She does, but again she dated this guy for 10 years and there was no sign they had any interaction with her at all. She was not invited in that family for any occasion at all even with her good behavior (after 10 years of commitment she had earned the right to be at least introduced no?). Also, she was not respected by his circle so it was natural to lean on her family. I don’t want to defend her here because God knows she is pathetic and does contribute nothing with all her privilege and position she has been given but being close to her family in the end it’s not the worst thing.
Well the Fail is going with the angle that Carole won the granny war. Ouch, i guess they are a bit miffed that she’s leaking to People.
I’m sure Christmas with the Middletons will be much more enjoyable than with the royals. However it is a Royal tradition and if you are going to accept the perks of being royal then you should be prepared to accept the downside too.
Camilla spends Christmas Day at sandringham and then goes off to spend time with her own family on Boxing Day. I’m sure the Dolittles could do the same. They also have the advantage of living nearby so wouldn’t need to stay overnight at Sandringham.
I imagine that they are perhaps retaliating because the Queen hasn’t invited the Middletons. It also means Charles is unlikely to see his grandchildren at Christmas and speaks volumes about William’s relationship with his father.
On a separate note, Kate seems to have overdone the fillers. She looks as if she has 2 golf balls in her cheeks.
What an utterley ridiculous decision! They have a home right near Sandringham and can have the Midds there. with the Queen and Phil being so old now, wouldnt you think all the family would try to be together?
It was estimated that her going home with one heir right after his birth would cost taxpayers an additional $20,000 a day in security. Add in another heir and how much more will these costs skyrocket? They have two massive homes they get as perks of the job they refuse to do. William should pony up the expenses for all security whenever she (and kids) run home to mummy instead of staying in those homes.
@Nota I have a feeling even The Queen and Charles knows WK are not up for the job as Prince and Princess of Wales and King and QUeen in the future.
Maybe they just want to spend Christmas with her family?
One day, not even a full day in exchange for the 50 room palace and 10 bedroom mansion they live in for free. Why do people think that is too much to ask? HM is 90, the Duke of Edinburgh is 95. Why not do things their way?
William obviously doesn’t think some religious holidays matter, because he spent his daughter’s first Easter at Jecca’s wedding. The Middletons never went to church until the dueling pap parades started after the engagement. This is just another way for him to stick it to his family.
@Nota, makes me think if William and kate are religious people.
They see her family all the time; almost daily. They are living high off the hog solely due to Williams family.
I think the choice is clear.
This is actually quite interesting to say the very least, firstly the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are no spring chickens, they are at that time in their life, and I know from my own elderly relatives that it might be their last Christmas. So from my. Perspective it is very important that the royals should all be with her majesty this Christmas. There is no sense of duty with William and certainly none with Kate, I was recently watching a journalist on Loose Women (daytime tv) going overboard how Kate should have shown up at the Irish Guards shamrock event the other year and how she and Wills are not celebrities. Something up, maybe unless Kate is fed up with the stuffiness of Sandringham, having to attend church, change her outfits several times in one day for breakfast lunch afternoon tea and supper, and the Queen noting how George seems to be always getting his own way. I feel sorry for Charles but it does look like the March of the Middletons are setting the tone for where they are in the general order of things.
Seems odd to me. William is in direct line to the throne yet he won’t show up for the obligatory Xmas functions with the Queen and Prince Charles et al? And he has a manor nearby that his wife’s whole family could be at for days on end if they wanted. He can easily have it all. Why would he not do that? A big FU to someone. William seems so petulant to me. The recent pic of him with the Queen, Phillip, Charles, Camilla, and Kate seemed fraught with tension. They all had smiles but not relaxed happy smiles and William looked like an idiot who was about to burst into a fit of giggles. He was far more mature and in keeping with his position when he was younger. If he can’t be bothered to give his position the dignity that it deserves he should remove himself from succession and let Harry step in. Harry would be a much better and more beloved King anyway. Maybe THAT is the problem. William is jealous of Harry.
But why would he be jealous of Harry?
Much ado about nothing! She’s spending Xmas with her parents …..big deal!
If she were married to anyone else, this wouldn’t be a problem. But she married Prince William; and with that there are expectations and duties. I cannot wait to read about the end of the British Monarchy as we know it in about 20 years. It’s all downhill after QEII dies, and will only get worse after Charles dies. William and Kate are not cut out for it. It’s that simple.
Don’t recalll Duchess Sophie Wessex ever spending Christmas with her family – Princess Diana ever spending Christmas back at Althorpe or for that matter Fergie going back home to Major Ron !
Hm, maybe Christmas at the Middletons’ means W won’t have to fund a houseful of people (wine, food, poppers, etc.), but the Midds will. Cheap bastard, that W.
It’s not as if he is doing it now since he still takes an allowance from his father to pay for his household.
Good point, but I’m willing to bet, in his eyes, HE’s paying.
Can’t they all have Christmas together at Sandringham? Or are the Middletons not invited?
I think that is a big part of it. The staff fled after the Middletons were rumored to move into Anmer for weeks/months on end for Christmas right after W&K took it over.
Maybe HM finally put her foot down and said the Middletons are not welcome/allowed to stay at Anmer. Nor are they allowed to participate in the boxing day shoot, the traditional football match, or the church service. She’s done with them acting like they are the royal family. If that is the case, this is William’s petulant reaction, complete with Carole organizing a competing boxing day shoot.
I don’t think Anmer was made available to W&K to blend families at Christmas. It would never have been HM’s intention to have the Middleton family move in en masse and live on her private estate. Just like the MIL apartment for Carole at Kensington Palace was never going to happen.
I think Anmer was hastily arranged when rumors surfaced of W&K house hunting. The BRF could not stand the scrutiny of how much that private home would cost plus the security. William refused Harewood, choices were a Crown Estate property at Windsor or something at Sandringham. Frogmore is for Philip, Belvedere is associated with Uncle David. W&K would have rejected Wood Farm as too small, so the tenants in the biggest house at Sandringham were thrown out to make room for W&K.
Maybe they will take the helicopter to Sandringham for Christmas lunch.