10 Dec 2023

Royal Family members reveal family Christmas card images

5:42 pm on 10 December 2023
The card featuring the King and Queen shows them posing in their crowns at the Coronation earlier this year.

The card featuring the King and Queen shows them posing in their crowns at the Coronation earlier this year. Photo: Social Media / @theroyalfamily

By Rachel Russell for the BBC.

Royal Family members have revealed their Christmas card images - with King Charles III choosing a picture from his Coronation earlier this year.

The King and Queen Camilla shared a photo of them wearing their robes and crowns in Buckingham Palace's throne room on 6 May.

Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales have released a monochrome photograph of their family.

The family are seen arranged around Princess Charlotte sitting on a chair.

They are all wearing white shirts too, with Catherine, Princess of Wales, and daughter Charlotte, eight, wearing jeans, while the Prince of Wales, wears black trousers along with sons Prince George, 10, and Prince Louis, five.

Their photo was taken by Yorkshire-born photographer Josh Shinner, who has previously snapped stars including Florence Pugh, Jodie Comer and Sam Smith.

The King and Queen were captured by photographer Hugo Burnand for the second Christmas card featuring King Charles as monarch.

The couple are standing side-by-side, with King Charles pictured wearing the Imperial State Crown and Queen Camilla wearing Queen Mary's Crown.

The King is wearing a coronation tunic and the robe of estate, which was made of purple silk velvet that had been embroidered in gold and was also worn by King George VI in 1937.

The Queen's robe of estate was made by Ede and Ravenscroft and was designed and hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey earlier this year in a ceremony that brought together 100 heads of state, kings and queens from across the world, celebrities, and family and friends of the couple.

Thousands of people also gathered to see the couple on the palace balcony after the coronation, where they were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, as well as the coronation pages and Ladies in Attendance.

Senior royals regularly release official festive images for Christmas cards that are sent to friends, family and colleagues.

Last year, Charles and Camilla chose a picture of them attending the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering last September - just days before his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died.

The Prince and Princess of Wales opted for a picture of them walking hand-in-hand with their children on a sunny day in Norfolk during the summer.

Catherine also held her annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey on Friday, where midwives and nursery teachers, young carers, and those who may have had a challenging year, were among the 1,500 attendees.

The Westminster Abbey choir performed, along with Beverley Knight and Adam Lambert, while William, Micheal Ward, Emma Willis, Roman Kemp, and Jim Broadbent gave readings.

*This story was first published on the BBC.

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