{"id":638872,"date":"2025-12-17T20:50:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/638872\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T20:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:50:29","slug":"princess-kates-family-share-their-christmas-traditions-from-michael-middletons-gift-wrapping-to-pippas-childhood-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/638872\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess Kate\u2019s Family Share Their Christmas Traditions, From Michael Middleton\u2019s Gift Wrapping to Pippa\u2019s Childhood Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Princess Kate\u2019s family clearly have happy memories of Christmases, both past and present. A regular fixture at walks to church at Sandringham<\/a>, Michael and Carole Middleton<\/a> and their children Pippa Matthews and James Middleton<\/a> take Christmas very seriously. \u201cNow we\u2019re adults we always make sure that we spend time as a wider family so that the cousins get to spend time together, especially around Christmas,\u201d James Middleton told The Sunday Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carole Middleton<\/a> revealed their very normal Christmas traditions when speaking to The Telegraph<\/a> in 2018. \u201cGenerally, we got to church in the morning, then a walk, open a few presents with more in the evening,\u201d she revealed. \u201cThen champagne and smoked salmon for lunch, and the main Christmas meal in the evening\u2013\u2013but with young grandchildren, maybe we\u2019ll move that forward and have it at lunchtime.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Prince William and Princess Kate spent Christmas with the Middleton family in Bucklebury in 2016.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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The Middleton family attended the Princess of Wales’s Carol Concert in 2024.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The lead up to Christmas is as important as the day itself. Princess Kate\u2019s sister<\/a> shared intimate memories of their childhood christmases in her book, Celebrate. Pippa shared, \u201cwhen I was a child, my December weekends were spent making cards, decorating the tree, hanging the wreath, and preparing brandy butter and peppermint creams.\u201d Pippa reflected on their childhood home, saying \u201cbowls brimming with walnuts, shiny wrapped chocolates, and piles of clementines would appear around the house\u201d in the lead up to Christmas.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Christmas essentials are mince pies, mulled wine and mistletoe,\u201d Carole Middleton shared in 2018. While Carole was once a party planning queen, she is reportedly not too precious about how the Christmas tree is decorated. The secret is to have three trees: \u201ca fashionable, themed one; a \u2018memory\u2019 one with baubles going right back, and one the children can decorate however they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Prince and Princess of Wales attend church on Christmas Day in 2024.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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Princess Kate and her mom, Carole Middleton, Christmas shopping in 2005.<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to have a theme for the wrapping\u2013\u2013all red, or all craft paper, or make a big thing with the ribbons,\u201d Carole said in the interview. Even the family\u2019s patriarch gets involved in the preparations. \u201cMike gets very involved with the square shapes,\u201d Carole revealed. \u201cHe\u2019s very precise. I like to save boxes and put tricky-shaped presents in them, and I do the whole thing listening to carols.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For gifts, the best ones are homemade. Princess Kate famously gifted members of the Royal Family<\/a> jars of her Granny Middleton\u2019s chutney one Christmas, while her brother James gave jars of honey from his own bees another year. In his memoir, Meet Ella, James Middleton wrote \u201ca gift from a queen to the Queen seemed fitting.”<\/p>\n

From their young family house in Bucklebury<\/a> to the lavish surroundings of Sandringham<\/a>, Princess Kate and her family have learned the true magic of Christmas. \u201cLooking back, I don\u2019t remember what presents I received, nor whether the sprouts were overcooked,\u201d Pippa reminisced. \u201cBut what I do remember are all the small rituals that we revelled in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Princess Kate\u2019s family clearly have happy memories of Christmases, both past and present. A regular fixture at walks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[5105,7710,519,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-638872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-royal","9":"tag-royal-families","10":"tag-royal-family","11":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115736886907042242","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}