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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Kayleigh Roberts

How Kate Middleton Uses Simple Holiday Decorations to Give Her Kids Normalcy at Christmas

Kate Middleton, Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte at the Christmas Carol service in 2023.

Today in "royals are really just like us" revelations: Prince William and Kate Middleton's kids have surprisingly normal Christmas celebrations, apparently.

Obviously, life isn't just naturally normal for, well, anyone in the Royal Family, but the Princess of Wales actively works to ensure her kids get to be typical kids around the holidays, according to former royal butler Grant Harrold. One of her go-to ways of incorporating normalcy into palace life? Kitschy and cute Christmas decor, like "Santa Stop Here" signs.

"I absolutely wouldn't rule it out the way William and Kate are," Harrold said of decor like the aforementioned Santa signage during a recent interview with The Sun. “They're fun. They've got a good sense of humor. They're very much family orientated. You could almost guarantee there'll be things like ‘Santa, stop here.'"

Mass-market holiday decorations aren't the only normal part of Christmas for Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, Harrold insisted.

“They'll be putting the stockings by the fireplace, the mince pies, the milk for the reindeer," he added. “You could absolutely guarantee they'll do the exact same thing that we all do. The kids and their Christmas are the same as every other kid in the land. Well, most kids in the land.”

At last year's "Together At Christmas" carol service at Westminster Abbey, the Wales kids gave the world a little photographic evidence of their Christmas normalcy when they were snapped mailing their letters to Santa at the event.

Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George mailing their letters to Santa at the 2023 "Together At Christmas" Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. (Image credit: Getty Images)

As The Sun noted, the older royals also have some incredibly down-to-earth holiday traditions of their own, like watching Will's relatable favorite Christmas movie, Elf.

"It’s very funny and I keep watching it every Christmas, it still makes me laugh," he said while speaking to young patients at Royal Marsden Hospital.

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