The Waleses release poignant Christmas card after the ‘hardest year’: William and Kate pose with George, Charlotte and Louis at their beloved Norfolk retreat where Princess recovered from cancer

The Prince and Princess of Wales released their Christmas card on social media today, featuring a photograph of the couple with their three children in Norfolk.

The card was posted online at 2pm, three hours after it emerged the family would not attend today’s traditional Royal Family pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.

Prince William and Kate are instead said to be looking forward to spending time with members of the Royal Family as usual at the Sandringham estate over Christmas.

The card image shows William and Kate in Norfolk, where Anmer Hall became a safe haven for the Princess while she recovered from cancer treatment earlier this year. 

It is taken from the video released by Kate in September which confirmed she would return to public duties following the completion of her course of chemotherapy. 

The post on social media said: ‘Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas’ – with the words inside the card saying: ‘Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.’ 

MailOnline understands the Waleses are already in Norfolk with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis , and had always planned to be.

It has also been made clear that William and Kate’s absence was in no way linked to Prince Andrew pulling out of the lunch amid the ongoing Chinese ‘spy’ scandal.

The confirmation from the royal source was given just before 11am, at around exactly the same time that Charles was spotted arriving at Buckingham Palace for the lunch.

Kate, who has been gradually returning to public events after revealing in September that she had finished a course of cancer treatment, was last seen with her family on December 6 at Westminster Abbey for her ‘Together at Christmas’ carol service.

Four days later, William said during a visit to Picton Barracks in Wiltshire that he was looking forward to but ‘not ready’ for Christmas and would celebrate with 45 family members at Sandringham ‘all in one room’, although they are ‘normally spread out’.

George, Charlotte and Louis have been on their Christmas holidays since last Friday when Lambrook School near Windsor, which they all attend, closed until January 8.

William and Kate have been pictured arriving for the lunch in previous years, including 2018 and 2019. The event was not held in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic.

It comes after William described the past year which has seen his wife and father being treated for cancer as ‘brutal’.

The Prince spoke candidly about the royal family’s major health scares in an interview while in South Africa last month, saying 2024 has ‘probably been the hardest year in my life’ and a ‘dreadful’ experience.

Kate has talked about her cancer journey, describing in a video how the episode had been ‘incredibly tough for us as a family’, but this is the first time the prince has revealed his thoughts in detail.

When asked on November 7 about his year, William replied: ‘Honestly, it’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.

‘But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.’

Kate appeared in a deeply personal video with her family in September to confirm her return to public duties following the completion of a course of chemotherapy.

The princess’ heartfelt message about her cancer journey was spoken over images showing the Waleses and their children enjoying the outdoors, and she said her focus now was ‘doing what I can to stay cancer free’.

The King’s cancer diagnosis was announced in February and he has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of the disease as an outpatient, but will be returning to fuller duties and greater overseas travel next year.

Yesterday, the Duke of York pulled out of the King’s pre-Christmas lunch as he continues to be dogged by his links to an alleged Chinese spy.

Andrew decided not to attend the gathering after speaking to his ex-wife and close friend Sarah, Duchess of York, according to a source.

The King’s brother had already withdrawn from joining senior royals at Sandringham for the festive period.

It was previously revealed in a High Court hearing that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a ‘close’ confidant of Andrew.

Mr Yang, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted on Monday, has insisted it was ‘entirely untrue’ to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has ‘done nothing wrong or unlawful’.