Kate Middleton Announces Holiday Plans in the Coziest Christmas Sweater
The Princess of Wales' third Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey is linked to her Shaping Us campaign
Kate Middleton is the Christmas princess!
On Saturday, Kensington Palace announced that the Princess of Wales, 41, will host a third annual Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey. The festive event will be held on Friday, Dec. 8 (the same date that was accidentally leaked on the royal family’s website last month!) and later air on ITV on Christmas Eve, as it has in years past.
This year's concert on Dec. 8 is linked to Princess Kate’s Shaping Us campaign and organized to “thank all those who work to support babies, young children and families in our communities across the U.K. and a celebration of the golden opportunity that the birth of a new baby brings,” the palace said.
Westminster Abbey will light up with performances by its renowned choir plus musical guests Adam Lambert, Beverley Knight, Jacob Collier, Freya Ridings and James Bay.
Along with the concert confirmation, Princess Kate’s office released a photo of her decorating a Christmas tree — and her cozy sweater might look familiar. The picture appears to have been snapped during the same shoot for the video that Kate and Prince William’s team released to their shared social media accounts before last year’s concert and showed Kate decorating an evergreen.
"Final touches before the #TogetherAtChristmas' Carol Service tomorrow," the clip was captioned on Twitter, which is now known as X.
Final touches ahead of the #TogetherAtChristmas Carol Service tomorrow 🎄 pic.twitter.com/mixjI8d5TD
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 14, 2022
The cream Fair Isle turtleneck is a winter staple in Kate’s closet, and she’s worn the sweater several times before. The Princess of Wales previously reached for the Holland Cooper top to read a children's book on CBeebies Bedtime Stories in February 2022 and bundled up in it again for a conversation on mental wellness with U.K. radio host Roman Kemp last February, in a chat connected to her Shaping Us campaign.
The Princess of Wales launched Shaping Us under the umbrella of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in January. Kate created the center within the larger philanthropic Royal Foundation in June 2021 to raise awareness of the importance of the first five years of life and advance outcomes for a brighter society. The Shaping Us initiative aims to take the issue to the next level by increasing public understanding, and the Christmas concert falls at the end of its first year, shortly after the inaugural Shaping Us National Symposium in London this month.
Alluding to what’s to come, Kensington Palace said that the upcoming Christmas concert will welcome “inspiring individuals and families from all corners of the UK, including midwives, health visitors, early years practitioners, nursery teachers and community volunteers” to thank those who are shaping the next generation. Continuing tradition, members of the royal family are also expected to attend.
Supported by the Royal Foundation, Princess Kate spearheaded and hosted the first Royal Carols: Together At Christmas concert on Dec. 8, 2021, to pay tribute to the incredible work of individuals and organizations across the U.K. who supported their communities through the COVID pandemic. She attended the event with Prince William, 41, and Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Zara and Mike Tindall also came out to support. Kate also surprised viewers with her first public piano performance! The royal hit the keys to accompany Tom Walker as he sang "For Those Who Can't Be Here."
Last December, the event was again held to bring together members of the royal family with charity staff, community volunteers, frontline workers, military personnel and more to "celebrate the joy that human connection can bring," Buckingham Palace said in a release at the time. Princess Kate also brought along two special guests for the first time — Prince George and Princess Charlotte!
Last year’s rendition of Royal Carols: Together At Christmas also honored Queen Elizabeth following her death in September 2022.
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While the third iteration of Kate’s Christmas concert officially has a date, royal fans already marked the calendar. In October, Hello! reported that Royal.UK slipped the info under upcoming engagements for Prince Richard and Birgitte, saying that the couple “will attend a Carol Service held by The Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey, London” on Dec. 8.
While the reported detail is no longer on The Royal Diary tab of the Royal.UK website, where the official engagements of royal family members are published up to eight weeks in advance, Dec. 8 aligned with past precedent — which happens to be the same early December date as the first year.
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