Queen Elizabeth and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit Vernon Park during a Diamond Jubilee visit to Nottingham on June 13, 2012 in Nottingham, England.Photo: Anwar Hussein/WireImage
In 2006,Queen Elizabethbroke precedent and invitedKate Middleton— thenPrince William’s girlfriend — to Christmas at Sandringham.
Kate Middleton and Prince William attend day 1 of the Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival on March 13, 2007 in Cheltenham, England.Indigo/Getty
The Queen’s 2006 invitation to Kate was the first time she’d invited a girlfriend to Sandringham,The Daily Mailreported. “In a surprise twist,” the outlet wrote, Kate “politely declined the offer, opting to stick with tradition and wait until she could attend as a married woman — with the ring to prove it.”
It was evidence,The Daily Mailwrote, that Kate “valued the importance of tradition and patience.”
In his 2020 bookBattle of Brothers: William and Harry — The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, royal biographer Robert Lacey wrote, “By 2006, the couple had been dating seriously for the best part of five years. Yet when William invited Kate to join him that year at Sandringham for the royal family’s traditional Christmas lunch, she refused.”
Prince William walks with his girlfriend Kate Middleton after his graduation ceremony at RAF Cranwell on April 11, 2008 in Cranwell, England.Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WireImage
Instead of going to Sandringham, Kate traveled to Scotland to spend the holiday with her parents and family, as both of her grandmothers had recently died.
“Kate was incredibly saddened to lose both her grandmothers, and this will be the first time the family will have gathered since their deaths,” a friend said at the time, perThe Daily Mail. “It’s a bit of a Middleton Christmas, and there’s no way Kate would not be part of it.”
Kate Middleton, Prince William’s girlfriend, with her parents Carole and Michael at the Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst Military Academy to watch the passing-out parade.Pool Photograph/Corbis/Corbis via Getty
Pool Photograph/Corbis/Corbis via Getty
With Kate away in Scotland and William at Sandringham, “it appeared William seemingly regretted her decision, and on the traditional royal shooting party over the festive season, the prince was pictured glued to his phone,”The Daily Mailwrote. “The lovesick future king was in a world of his own, keeping his gun tucked under his arm but his mobile phone firmly in his hand.”
“As his uncles and grandfather enthusiastically took aim and proudly collected their kill, the then 24-year-old was texting (presumably Kate) furiously,” the outlet continued.
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Sticking true to her values, Kate didn’t attend Christmas at Sandringham until 2011, the Dec. 25 after she married William at Westminster Abbey on April 29 of that year, nearly a decade after they first met as first-year students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
source: people.com
