Kate Middleton's 'Queenly Duty': 'Stoic' Christmas Concert Attendance Sparks Comparisons to Elizabeth II After Princess of Wales' Rough Year
Kate, Princess of Wales' 'enormously popular' Christmas service will go on in December despite future queen's cancer recovery, drawing comparisons to late Queen Elizabeth II.
On December 6, Catherine, Princess of Wales, who completed chemotherapy for an unknown type of cancer in September, will attend her fourth annual Together at Christmas concert in Westminster Abbey.
This led royal historian Hugo Vickers to share, "I thought if there's anything that she's going to do between now and the end of the year, it would be the carol service because it's enormously popular."
"It's become one of the nicest features of the Christmas season," he added. "They've been hugely successful, the last ones that she did. It's her way of saying thank you and highlighting the needs of people in communities who've helped each other. I'm sure of all the things that she could have done that was going to be a high priority."
The future queen organized the first concert in December 2021, which became Queen Elizabeth II's final Christmas as the reigning monarch. Both senior and junior royals have shown up at the past three events, and that is expected to continue this year as King Charles III and Queen Camilla are predicted to attend.
"The fact we've been told now she is going to appear on December 6 also indicates that she is able to make that sort of decision," Vickers continued. "Beforehand it was always very much 'Let's see how it is on the day' — so that's good news, too."
The Princess of Wales inspired the scribe to observe about her, "The words that spring to mind are stoicism and dignity. I don't think you could have a better example of that than Queen Elizabeth II. And so there is a wonderful example which certainly the Queen had, Prince Philip had, Princess Anne has. You know, just get on with the job. Don't don't care a jot what people say about you or think about you."
He concluded, "Leave that up to them. You just know what you're going to do, and you do it. Kate certainly has all those qualities. And yes, I bet you she learned them from the Queen."
At the first carol service, set in an Abbey that has saw the coronations of nearly every monarch since the Dark Ages, Kate said she hoped the ceremony would reflect " the importance of human connection and what it means, as families, communities and as a nation, to be together and to feel united to help one another through times of hardship or uncertainty."
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all typically appear at the event in what has also become a showcase for the Wales kids.
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The Sun reported on Vickers' remarks.
