Celebration!

Happy Christmas Your Majesty

Prince William and Kate Middleton flouted royal tradition today to spend Christmas with the Middleton family, in Bucklebury, Berkshire.

While the Queen attended church at Sandringham, with her husband and other royals including Beatrice and Eugenie, William and Kate joined Pippa, James, Carole and Michael at St Mark's Church in Berkshire.Kate's morning sickness meant the young royals were given permission to skip the formal celebrations with the Monarch.

In her annual Christmas speech, the Queen spoke warmly about her own jubilee and the success of the London Olympics. the message was recorded in 3D for the first time ever.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen thought the broadcast was ‘absolutely lovely’, adding: ‘We wanted to do something a bit different and special in this jubilee year, so doing it for the first time in 3D seemed a good thing, technology-wise, to do. The Queen absolutely agreed straight away – there was no need for convincing at all, she was absolutely ready to embrace something new in this year.’

During her message, the Queen said: "All those who saw the achievement and courage at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were further inspired by the skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes. In pursuing their own sporting goals, they gave the rest of us the opportunity to share something of the excitement and drama."

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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