Queen Elizabeth has rewritten many old royal traditions or at least she has been willing to bend a lot of the stuffy old rules in order to accommodate younger members of the family. Kate Middleton's marriage to Prince William is believed to be the catalyst for all of changes and Elizabeth's willingness to slowly but surely take steps to pull the monarchy out of the dark ages. One yearly tradition includes the family gathering at Elizabeth's Sandringham House for lunch on Christmas day. While Kate, William and little Prince George have already been invited to this years' occasion, the rest of the Middleton family has been left off of the guest list.
The snub is raising quite a few eyebrows because Queen Elizabeth has been forced to accept Kate's family into the fold since her mother, Carole Middleton often takes care of the future heir to the throne, baby George. It has just been kind of accepted that on major holiday's both sides of the family would now gather consistently but according to the Daily Mail, it looks like Kate's family will be missing from Sandringham House this year.
"It is highly unlikely that Kate's family will be invited to the big Christmas lunch, or the famous Boxing Day shoot. Perhaps one day they will be invited to the big house for tea, but not for lunch or dinner, and not on Christmas Day. The Queen is fond of Kate and doesn't mean to exclude her family - indeed she has broken many of the old rules for them in the past. But if all of her children and grandchildren's wives had their families to lunch, there wouldn't be enough room, even at Sandringham House's dining room.'
According to that it doesn't sound like a purposeful, vindictive snub but to the duchess it will likely still feel that way. After white-knuckling it through several months of morning sickness, while carrying a "spare" to the throne for the royal family, having her beloved parents on hand at Christmas day lunch likely feels like a small favor to ask.
Do you think that Queen Elizabeth will change her mind at the last minute and if not, will it cause friction in her relationship with Kate? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
