Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine, in a conspicuous shift from tradition, decided to spend Christmas with Catherine’s family, the Middletons, and together attended the Christmas Day church service at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, Berkshire.
Meanwhile, as usual, other members of the Royal family attended the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham and the absence of the Queen of England did not go unnoticed – she was rather unwell to attend the traditional church service according to Buckingham Palace sources.
“Her Majesty the Queen will not attend church at Sandringham this morning.
“The Queen continues to recover from a heavy cold and will stay indoors to assist with her recovery. Her Majesty will participate in the royal family Christmas celebrations during the day,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.
Coming back to the St. Mark’ church service, the young Prince George, his sister Princess Charlotte accompanied by parents, William and Catherine, maternal grandparents, Michael and Carol Middleton, and other members of the Middleton family including Kate’s brother James Middleton, her sister Pippa Middleton and her fiancé James Matthews were a delight for photograph hunters.
In one such picture, which demands a second look, the three-year-old prince is seen sucking on a lollipop holding his father’s hand – rather cute!
This happened to be the first time Prince William and Kate took their children to a Christmas Day church service, which one hopes, continues for many more Christmases.
The service was led by Reverend Nick Wynne-Jones who opened with a rendition “Joy of the World” after which the congregation went through the Holy Communion ritual. The service lasted for an hour, or thereabouts.
Christmas Day at the Middleton House is believed to be a less formal fun day when compared to the highly traditional Sandringham Christmas day where almost everything is done according to preset timetables.
As far as questions about style and attire of the St Mark’s Church gathering are concerned, the pictures we have included are pretty much self-explanatory.