The Prince and Princess of Wales gathered at Sandringham with the King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family to enjoy their traditional Christmas Day festivities.
Notable by their absence were the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are believed to have spent the day at home in California.
Meghan, 43, and Harry, 40, are believed to have missed out on an invite to the celebrations at Sandringham and stayed at their nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito instead.
The duchess described the family’s ‘low-key’ approach to the festive period in America during a magazine interview last month.
‘We’re always making sure we have something to do,’ the Duchess told Marie Claire. ‘Like any other family, you spend time having a great meal and then what do you do? Play games, all the same stuff, someone brings a guitar – fun.’
The former Suits actress also stressed the importance of making ‘room at your table for your friends who don’t have family’ such as feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who once joined the Sussexes’ Thanksgiving party.
Meghan, who married Harry in 2018, added it is important to the couple that Archie and Lilibet experience the ‘magic’ of festive traditions such as putting out ‘carrots for the reindeer’ at Christmas.
Meghan and Harry – pictured earlier this year – are believed to have spent a quiet Christmas at home in America
The Prince and Princess of Wales with George, Louis and Charlotte at the traditional Christmas Day service in Sandringham
Back in Britain, the Princess of Wales delighted well-wishers as she walked alongside her husband William and their children Prince Louis, six, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince George, 11, into the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham.
The Waleses were joined by King Charles and Queen Camilla, although Prince Andrew was nowhere to be seen amid the fallout over his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
William said last week that he was looking forward to spending Christmas with 45 members of his family ‘all in one room’.
Members of The Firm opened their presents on Christmas Eve in a nod to the family’s German origins.
They are known to enjoy giving each other novelty presents, typically buying things that are cheap and will make people laugh rather than spending a lot on big, lavish gifts.
For instance, Prince William reportedly gave his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth a pair of slippers emblazoned with her face.
Meghan joined the celebrations at Sandringham in 2017 after announcing her engagement with Harry.
She later recalled the ‘amazing’ experience in her controversial 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan.
Harry and Meghan released their own ‘holiday season’ card earlier this month
‘I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham,’ Meghan recalled. ‘Calling my mum, and she’s like, ‘How’s it going?’ And I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s amazing.’
‘It’s just like a big family like I always wanted,’ she added. ‘And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun.’
She then detailed how at dinner she was sat next to Prince Philip, ‘H’s grandfather’.
Meghan explained: ‘And I just thought it was so wonderful. And I was like, ‘Oh, we chatted and it was so great.’ And I talked about this, and talked about this.
‘He [Harry] was like, ‘You had his bad ear. He couldn’t hear anything you were saying.’ I was like ‘Oh. Well, I thought it went really well.”
Unlike other women who married into the Royal Family, Meghan was invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham five months before her wedding to Harry.
This unprecedented decision was seen as a highly personal gesture from Queen Elizabeth, signalling her warm welcome to the former actress.
The festivities commenced at 4pm on Christmas Eve in Sandringham’s wood-panelled drawing room, where the family gathered for afternoon tea – a meal cherished by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Sussexes spent Christmas Day at Sandringham in 2017, and are seen arriving at church with the Prince and Princess of Wales
The spread included an assortment of delicate sandwiches, scones, muffins and cakes, accompanied by Earl Grey and the Queen’s favourite Indian blend tea.
At 6pm, the family reconvened in the elegant white drawing room to exchange presents, continuing a cherished royal tradition.
Gifts were displayed on cloth-covered tables, each pile marked with a name card.
Neither Harry, Meghan, or Andrew featured in King Charles’ traditional Christmas Day address to the nation.
The monarch paid tribute to the medical staff who supported him and Kate during their cancer treatment.
He also spoke of his pride at how communities across the UK responded to the riots in the summer and included snippets of William and the wider Royal Family.
Royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop said the speech showed that Charles, 76, was ‘choosing to focus on family strengths, not weaknesses, to shore up the nation’.
She told The Mirror: ‘Lest we are in any doubt, the clever film that accompanied this speech, underscored the importance of the King’s royal A-Team, on hand to deliver what Charles considers to be an alternative to global killing: a listening and understanding mission that leads to actions for the good of all.
‘As well as a replay of the King’s famous hug with the New Zealand women’s rugby team, there was footage of Kate at Trooping the Colour, Camilla in Scotland and Australia, William serving food to the homeless and, of course, those royal stalwarts, Princess Anne and the Edinburghs.’
Royal fans were delighted to see a resplendent Kate outside St Mary Magdalen Church
The late Queen Elizabeth notably missed Harry and Meghan off her Christmas message in 2019 and they have not been spoken about in a festive speech since.
Earlier this month, the pair released a Christmas card showcasing the highlights of their year, including pictures from their four-day visit to Colombia in August.
The card was shared on X/Twitter by the Sussexes’ long-time friend and royal reporter Omid Scobie.
Scobie, who wrote the couple’s biography Finding Freedom, captioned his post: ‘The Sussexes share highlights of their year on the 2024 Archewell holiday card.’
One of the pictures featured on the festive card showed Princess Lilibet running into Prince Harry’s waiting arms, while Meghan held her arms open for a hug from Prince Archie.
The couple’s three dogs were also a part of the family portrait.
Reacting to the image, royal fans said they couldn’t believe how old Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, had become – with Harry and Meghan’s children rarely being spotted in public.
One comment read: ‘The kids are so big.’
Another person added: ‘Look at the kids. They have grown so much.’
A third X user noted the children’s bright red hair, like their father, the Duke of Sussex.
The card also included a personal message from the Sussexes, which read: ‘On behalf of the office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Archewell Productions and Archewell Foundations.
‘We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season and a joyful new year.’
Several people were delighted to see a ‘glimpse of the kiddos’ on the new card, with one person adding: ‘So cute to see a picture of their children.
‘They are really redheads!’
Another comment read: ‘Okay so of course I went right to the photo of the kids!! Red heads!! Just like my grandkids!! I love it!!’
Meghan posing with a turkey during a previous post on her lifestyle website, The Tig
A third user exclaimed: ‘Omg. Their babies have such red hair!!’
While their new ‘holiday’ card celebrated some of the couple’s milestone moments, Harry and Meghan’s latest project – a Netflix docuseries about posh polo – has received scathing reviews from critics.
The five-part docuseries, which was released on December 10, centres around the build-up to the polo World Cup in Florida and mainly focuses on players such as Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Timmy Dutta, and Nacho Figueras.
The documentary, part of Harry and Meghan’s £80m-deal with Netflix, promised that it would showcase the ‘true depth and spirit of the sport’ as well as the ‘intensity of its high-stakes moments’.
Following its release, however, any hope that Polo would join the ranks of great sport documentaries such as Disney +’s Welcome to Wrexham and 2020’s The Last Dance, were quickly dashed – with critics largely panning the ‘boring’ series.
Receiving two stars or less out of five across the board, the programme has been labelled ‘a tedious inside-look at posh polo’ and a ‘mostly boring look at a sport that very few people outside of elite circles have any particular interest in’.
Harry and Meghan, who served as executive producers of the series, make a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in the documentary, with fans having to wait until episode five to catch a glimpse of the couple.
The Telegraph’s Ed Power noted there was ‘not enough of the Sussexes to make this anything other than a dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit’.