SEASON’S GREETINGS FROM THE ROYALS
FOR those wanting an insight into the characters of the key figures in the Royal Family, these Christmas cards may offer a clue – and perhaps explain why Kate and Meghan will never be best friends.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s greetings card shows them posing in staid autumn country casuals relaxed with their happy children, George, Charlotte and Louis.
Meghan and Harry on the other hand have opted for a Vogue-style black and white photo of themselves shot from behind silhouetted against a sky lit up with fireworks.
Both contrast sharply with the sense of duty, devotion and formality displayed by the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall gazing lovingly at each other for their Christmas card.
The adorable portrait of the Cambridges – the family’s first Christmas card to feature Prince Louis – taken by Matt Porteous shows the relaxed and beaming family sat on a tree trunk in a wooded area at Anmer Hall, their country house in Norfolk.
Kate, wearing a jumper, is holding smiling Louis – dressed in a light blue top and dark blue shorts, tights and shoes – in her arms as she rests against the tree trunk and Princess Charlotte, three, balances with her arms around her parents.
Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, is casually sat on the log next to Kate, with his top button undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Five-year-old Prince George, wearing Hunter wellies, blue trousers and a green jumper, playfully stands on one leg with his hands on his father’s shoulders. It is believed to be the first official photograph of the prince where he is wearing long trousers, apart from when he has been a page boy.
The very relaxed family scene contrasts sharply with the far more formal portrait used for the Cambridge family Christmas card in 2017.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s chosen image by Chris Allerton shows Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, on their wedding night with their arms wrapped
around each other’s waists and holding hands.
In what body language expert Judi James, who gives her opinion on the Royal Family’s Christmas cards for Express readers, called “an excluding pose” they have their backs to the camera lens while watching a firework display across a moonlit lake close to Frogmore Cottage, where they will live from next year.
In Charles and Camilla’s card, the duchess is wearing a cream and crepe dress by Fiona Clare, the same outfit she wore for the heir to the throne’s official 70th birthday pictures which featured the Cambridges and their children, and the Sussexes.
In the Christmas photograph, the dapper prince, regularly voted one of Britain’s best dressed men, is wearing an Anderson & Sheppard suit, shoes by Crockett & Jones and a Turnbull & Asser shirt.
The message in the card reads: “Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.”
The photograph was taken by Hugo Burnand, who is used to working with members of the Royal Family as he took William and Kate’s wedding pictures in 2011 and captured Charles and Camilla’s big day in 2005.
Charles also asked the photographer to take the birthday image which marked his 60th year in 2008, and he has taken a portrait picture of Camilla.
Porteous, a Jersey-born photographer, has become a firm favourite with the Cambridges. His previous commissions include George’s third birthday and Louis’s Christening, alongside the official photographer Matt Holyoak.
Allerton, a portrait, fashion and wedding photographer, is a former British soldier who trained at the late Lord Lichfield’s studios in London, after leaving the Armyin 2001.