Before Queen Elizabeth‘s 2022 death, she and Kate Middleton were known for being quite close. And it seems that relationship began blossoming long before she married into the royal family. Going all the way back to 2006, years before she and Prince William got engaged and then married, the Queen broke royal protocol to include Kate for Christmas. So why did her future granddaughter-in-law turn her down?
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The royals have had a rule when it comes to big events like Christmas: 'No ring, no bring.'
In 2006, Will and Kate had been dating for five years, and in most families, that means they probably would have been celebrating the holiday together for years at that point. But the royals had a policy of keeping it to family and spouses only, until Queen Elizabeth bent the rules.
Kate was invited to Sandringham that year anyway.
According to People, it was a “monumental” gesture on the Queen’s part — especially since she was a stickler for tradition her entire life. There’s no doubt the invitation meant a lot to Kate because of that. But she turned her down … and the reason she decided to shut down the invitation back then might have even made the Queen love her more.
Kate was only 24 at the time, but it sounds like she may have been wise beyond her years.
Instead, Kate decided to wait until she could attend Christmas as an actual married member of the family, fair and square. This showed that she “valued the importance of tradition and patience.”
“In a surprise twist, she politely declined the offer, opting to stick with tradition and wait until she could attend as a married woman — with the ring to prove it,” the Daily Mail reported at the time, via People.
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That Christmas marked the first time Elizabeth would invite a girlfriend to the family's celebrations.
The monarch may not have meant the invitation as a test. But as Robert Lacey wrote in his book Battle of Brothers, Kate seemed to pass with flying colors.
“The strong-willed ‘no’ from Kate showed she was willing to abide by tradition and wait until the time was right. She was not prepared to stamp over history in her rush to marry into the royal family,” he wrote.
Kate's first Sandringham Christmas wouldn't happen for five more years.
It wasn’t until 2011 that Kate celebrated the holiday with the royals. This came a few months after she and Prince William got married.
Now, all of Kate’s Christmases are Sandringham Christmases, so maybe she was right to wait!
