Ho ho ho, there’s new royal drama brewing right in time for the holidays. As you may or may not be aware, the royals have a tradition of spending Christmas in Balmoral, where they hole up in a (presumably haunted) old castle and enjoy a fancy lunch together hosted by King Charles. However! Apparently Prince William and Kate Middleton are hosting a “rival” more “middle class” (…i..) Christmas party at their home in a “coup” against His Majesty.
Their plan? To share moments from this ~laid back Christmas~ with followers on Instagram. “A little social media of the family eating chocolate and watching TV would be a very effective way of showing how normal Christmas is at Anmer Hall compared to what we hear about at Sandringham,” a former courtier tells the Daily Beast.
Apparently, Wills and Kate also want to ditch the royal tradition of handing out presents on Christmas Eve because they’re worried it makes them look “weird.” A friend of the couple explains, “Kate has always found the presents on Christmas Eve thing weird. It is definitely going to be got rid of when they are officially running things. I imagine it will continue this year at Sandringham in some shape or form but everything is going to be much more relaxed and have a middle-class flavor at Anmer Hall. You can bet your bottom dollar they will be doing proper presents for each other and the kids there on Christmas Day.”
The friend adds that there’s “always been a slightly covert, rival Christmas party at [William and Kate’s] house, but it’s going to be much more obvious this year. If they post pictures, it’ll be an official coup attempt.”
Meanwhile, a communications executive who used to work with the royal duo said “William and Kate have made an incredibly successful brand out of being normal and boring, but the crazy royal customs at Christmas threaten all that. It’s particularly damaging to their reputation because Christmas is the one time that everybody in the whole country actually pays attention to the royals, and it risks getting overshadowed by stories about these strange, elitist, aristocratic habits. It’s not surprising they want to change the narrative as they prepare to take the throne themselves.”
