Prince William and Catherine Middleton have released their annual family Christmas card, which has been met with both praise and judgment.
The Prince and Princess of Wales dropped their 2023 festive photo on Sunday – a family portrait showing the couple with their three children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, posing in a studio.
Dubbed “blah” by some, and “beautiful” by others, the family-of-five can be seen wearing co-ordinating white and denim in the black-and-white shot, taken by famed British magazine photographer Josh Shinner in Windsor earlier this year.
The photo is certainly a stark contrast to the family’s sunny shot from 2022, which showed them walking in the British countryside hand-in-hand.
While acknowledging the portrait was objectively flawless, many royal fans felt this year’s snap was lacking Christmas spirit:
Others, however, thought the photo was “wonderful”, with many remarking at how tall Prince George had grown since last year.
The King and Queen also shared their 2023 Christmas card on Sunday, which showed the pair posing for an official coronation day portrait.
The photo was shot by Hugo Burnand in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace after the pair were crowned at Westminster Abbey in May.
As is tradition, Charles and Camilla will spend Christmas at Sandringham along with other members of the royal family, as well as Camilla’s grandchildren.
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are based in the US, have continued to release their own Christmas cards over the years, with last year’s photo raising eyebrows.
In 2019 and 2020, their annual festive snaps included Prince Archie, while in 2021, Princess Lilibet made her debut.
But their 2022 card didn’t feature their two young children. Instead, it was simply a black-and-white photo of Meghan and Harry taken at a glitzy event in New York.
It comes after reports circulated that Harry and Meghan were hoping to spend Christmas in the UK for the first time in years.
A friend of the US-based couple told The Sunday Times in November that after the “friendly” call between Harry, Meghan and the King in honour of Charles’ 75th birthday, the pair “would love to” celebrate the festive holiday with the royals.
“I can’t imagine the Sussexes would decline an invitation to spend time with His Majesty,” the insider told the publication.
“As of yet, there have not been any invitations for the holidays.”
Originally published as Prince and Princess of Wales release 2023 Christmas card portrait
