Kate Middleton Once Stunned the Royal Household — By Saying No to the Queen on Christmas
Christmas has been a time of immutable traditions down the ages. These are the things that families have held dear and close to heart, and the British royal family is no exception to this either. Christmas at Sandringham has been less about being the palate cleanser and more of the main meal, a part of the royal calendar where nothing but tradition was at play. And in many ways, this makes the fact that Kate Middleton's status as an unknown quantity carry that much more significance.
Long before her married life as Princess of Wales, Middleton was still trying to find her place alongside Prince William—and the monarchy. When the couple was already together for five years in 2006, the late Queen made the rare move of inviting Middleton to join the rest of the royal family for their Christmas lunch event in Sandringham. It was an unexpected gesture, especially since Middleton was not married or engaged to William back then.
What came next was even more unexpected. Middleton said no. The occasion has been further elaborated upon by Royal historian Robert Lacey in his biography Battle of Brothers: “By 2006, the couple had been dating seriously for the best part of five years. Yet when William invited Middleton to join him that year at Sandringham for the Royal Family’s traditional Christmas lunch, she refused.” In this respect, it can be added that this is the first time the Queen has invited an ‘unregistered girlfriend’ to join the Royal Family for the Christmas meal, as reported by Robert Lacey in his biography.
However, Middleton, as Lacey explained, viewed this differently. “She would travel to Sandringham on Christmas Day only when she was engaged and had the ring to show for it.” This took what could have been a personal jab and transformed it into a definitive assertion of principle. As for Prince William, it was a shock to him. The palace also found it rather disturbing.
But for Middleton, according to palace insiders, this moment marked the start of her personal pathway to self-definition. As one royal source tells Cosmopolitan, "Kate was determined to set her line and make up her mind. She wanted certainty and a commitment before plunging into such a highly visible family situation, and this was something that had come through loud and clear to William.” Another source from the Palace agreed, and they emphasized that this decision was anything but rebellious. “It was not an act of defiance, but simply drawing lines and ensuring that it was understood that she was more than merely a girlfriend in the highly traditional Royal Family situation.”
Similarly, they have had enough of the unusual Christmas stories. Once, William gave Middleton a pair of binoculars for Christmas—a gift he later laughed off as unusual, but one that has since become a fond and funny memory from the early days of their relationship.