Nothing sharpens a sense of time like illness; add in old age, and the reflection only deepens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
King Charles was already the oldest monarch in British history to take the throne, and nearly two years into a cancer battle, the weight of the moment is not lost on him as the holidays approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Us Weekly reported that one source close to the King said, \u201cCharles prioritizes duty, but he\u2019s also a family man who knows his time is precious. He wants a special last Christmas in case it\u2019s his last.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite ongoing health concerns, the King is expected to stick to tradition. Charles plans to join the family\u2019s annual Christmas morning walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church, record his Christmas Day address to air later that day, and then spend the remainder of the holiday with loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNothing would stop Charles from doing that,\u201d a source said of the speech. \u201cHe will do everything expected of him and more. His health isn\u2019t the best. They\u2019re taking it day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the tone may be more reflective than usual, it will also be celebratory. The family is reportedly buoyed by good news after Princess Kate received the all-clear. \u201cThey all want to make the most of their time together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Festivities will take place at Sandringham House and are expected to include most senior royals. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are set to attend, along with Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prince Andrew, now styled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is not expected to be invited following the stripping of his titles and his removal from Royal Lodge. Sarah Ferguson also will not attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles\u2019 recent meeting with his estranged son, Prince Harry, reignited speculation about whether Harry, Meghan Markle and their children might receive a Christmas invitation. That appears unlikely, according to one source who told Stylecaster\u00a0of the meeting, \u201cThat\u2019s as far as it has gone.\u201d The same source noted that the chances of an invitation were always \u201cslim,\u201d and recent choices by the Sussexes did not help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their decision to attend Kris Jenner\u2019s birthday party reportedly raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf they are going to go out and look like Hollywood players, it\u2019s at odds with what the palace and royal family members would do,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the royal Christmas itself, historian Marlene Koenig said tradition rules the day. The family typically gathers for afternoon tea featuring classic cakes, sandwiches and Coronation Chicken, followed by a black-tie dinner and gift exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite their wealth, extravagance is not the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe royals prefer jokey or inexpensive gifts,\u201d Koenig said. \u201cThere\u2019s a competition to see who can get the funniest one,\u201d another source told the outlet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nothing sharpens a sense of time like illness; add in old age, and the reflection only deepens. King<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4439,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438\/revisions\/4439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}