PRINCESS OF HEARTS
CHARLOTTE CHARMS SANDRINGHAM CROWDS
PRINCESS Charlotte and Prince George made their royal walkabout debut yesterday when they attended the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham for the first time.
It was a rite of passage for the sixyear-old future King and his four-yearold sister, who walked the few hundred yards from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene Church with their parents William and Kate.
On the way back from the church service the royal children, who are third and fourth in line to the throne, delighted the 2,000-strong crowd by hugging well-wishers.
They also accepted a gift, and chatting to them with their parents.
In an outfit colour co-ordinated with her mother’s, Charlotte charmed onlookers when she attempted a curtsey for the Queen.
Apart from one-year-old Prince Louis, who remained at home with staff, the one notable royal absence was Prince Andrew who stayed away from the 11am service, choosing to remain with his father Prince Philip.
The 98-year-old Duke left hospital in London on Christmas Eve after four days of treatment for an undisclosed condition.
When the Duke of York stepped back from public duties amid a public backlash over his friendship with the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Palace officials said Andrew would be at the Christmas Day service.
But instead he went to a private 9am service yesterday before the public were allowed near the church.
Andrew walked alongside his brother Prince Charles, who joined with the Queen to force him to stand down last month.
His absence later ensured the focus was firmly on George and Charlotte, who were on their best behaviour.
There was one slight hiccup when Charlotte proved reluctant to accept
help from an aide offering to take flowers off her so that she could be given more presents by well-wishers. The little Princess grimaced and refused to hand them over.
In the bright winter sunshine, she and George made the day of one fan, Gemma Clark, who got a hug from both children.
Gemma, 39, who has cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair, had travelled from Long Sutton in Lincolnshire with her family.
She said: “It was amazing. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. I’ve never seen the Royal Family before.”
She gave Kate some roses and
Charlotte an inflatable flamingo and said she seemed pleased with the gift.
Gemma, adding that the flamingo was called Felicity, said: “She said thank you. But Charlotte may call it whatever she likes now.”
The Queen, in a red coat, was driven to and from church in a maroon Bentley, accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall on the way down while Prince Charles walked with the Cambridges.
The 93-year-old monarch was accompanied by the Countess of Wessex in the car on the way back to Sandringham House.
IT’S not just the nation that has had a “bumpy” year. The Royal Family has faced more than its fair share of challenges too. So it is heart-warming to see the youngest members of the family deploying charm, kindness and impeccable manners on their first Christmas outing at Sandringham.
Princess Charlotte’s instinctive hug for a well-wisher in a wheelchair seems to demonstrate the intuitive warmth we admired so much in her grandmother the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It bodes well.