At the service, the Prince of Wales will give a reading, their children will add their names to a “connection tree” and Kate Winslet, the actress, will deliver a self-written message on love.
The Princess arrived wearing a Catherine Walker & Co coat that she first wore in Ireland five years ago, with a £65 ($150) faux fur collar from Troy London.
She previously wore the look for a reunion with the late Queen in Windsor in December 2020.
Its festive hue could also be seen as an homage to the late Duke of Edinburgh, who was associated with this particular shade of “Edinburgh Green” as it was his livery colour.
Festive occasion
The line-up of performers this year includes young people from Future Talent, the musical education charity founded by the Duchess of Kent, who died in September.
Other guests include Dame Mary Berry, who has designed a wreath; Eugene Levy, the actor who interviewed Prince William for a documentary this year; and World War II veterans Jack Mortimer and John Eskdale.
Levy said it was “lovely to meet” the Princess, who said to him: “You know my husband very well now”.
The Prince spoke to the Canadian for his The Reluctant Traveller programme this year.
“I had a lovely day with your husband,” Levy told the Princess.
“I hope he looked after you,” the Princess said, to which Levy said:“‘He did look after me, yes, he did”.
The Princess, in a letter to be handed out with the Orders of Service to 1600 guests, will thank members of the congregation who have made an “extraordinary difference to the lives of others”.
She also extols the virtues of the Christmas period, saying that life may feel “fragmented or uncertain” at times, but the festive season “invites us to remember the power of reaching out to one another”.
Prince William give a Bible reading about the shepherds learning about the birth of Jesus.
All about love
Winslet read a passage she wrote herself, on the theme of love.
She said: “Love doesn’t always arrive wrapped in ribbons. Love can be expressed in how we treat one another, with kindness and grace.
“It’s in the laughter shared across a table, a hand held in comfort, the courage to reach out to someone who might otherwise be alone. Christmas is about giving.
“But maybe we can think about being ‘present’ as our Christmas present to those we love and to those who need to feel comforted and heard.”
Guests will be invited to add their names onto loops, to be strung on a “connection tree”, said to symbolise the “power of togetherness”.
Katie Melua, Fisherman’s Friends, Griff, and Smith of Bastille will all perform. Actress Hannah Waddingham was scheduled to sing but had to pull out after temporarily losing her voice while filming. She took a seat with the congregation to watch instead.
Poetry includes Wendy Cope’s The Christmas Life, Clement Clark Moore’s A Visit from St Nicholas – known for its opening line “Twas the night before Christmas” and read by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor – and William Morris’ Love is Enough.
Guests
Among the guests will be members of England women’s rugby World Cup winning squad, some of the Wales women’s rugby team, and Michelle Agyemang, a member of England Women’s Euro 2025 winning team.
Lewis Moody, the former England rugby captain who recently announced he has motor neurone disease, has been invited, as has Steven Frank, the 84-year-old Holocaust survivor who was photographed by the Princess in 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust.
The nation’s World War II veterans are represented by Jack Mortimer, a corporal with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day and John Eskdale, who saw combat with the Malta Convoys in 1942 and was involved in the invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943.
Katherine Field, who met the Princess at the Royal Marsden Hospital and was photographed wearing a cold cap as they talked about their experiences with the illness, was also invited.
Ambassadors and friends of the Royal Horticultural Society, gardener Arit Anderson, florist Simon Lycett and TV presenters Angelica Bell and Tom Allen, have all made wreaths on display in the abbey, with the help of school children.
Among those invited to the service are schoolgirl Madison Reed, who last year raised more than £1360 for the Archie Foundation, which supports sick children, by Highland dancing in 26 locations across Scotland, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.
Also included is Ann Davies, an 80-year-old cook who has spent a decade with the Moses Project, a charity providing mentoring and support for men with past and current addictions to drugs and alcohol. Clients there are known as “her boys”.
Another 15 community carol services will be held across Britain, with each congregation receiving a copy of the Princess’ letter.
The Westminster Abbey service is to air on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve and will be repeated on Christmas Day.
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