Prince William to miss Sandringham Christmas after volunteering at RAF Valley

By Katie Nicholl



Christmas apart? Prince William could be spending Christmas with the RAF, while his girlfriend Kate Middleton will retreat to her parents' home in Berkshire


Prince William may miss the Royal Family’s Christmas at Sandringham for the first time after volunteering to work at RAF Valley in Anglesey on Christmas Day.

It is considered the gentlemanly thing for newly qualified and unmarried search-and-rescue pilots to cover for colleagues who have families.

However the Prince, 28, may also have seen it as a chance to deflect attention away from his girlfriend Kate Middleton and rumours of an impending engagement.

‘William feels that if he works on Christmas Day it will ease the mounting speculation that he will spend his first Christmas with Kate – which would further fuel rumours that they are engaged,’ says a Royal insider.

‘Flight tradition dictates that new members who are unmarried should work the Christmas period and the Prince would never dream of making himself an exception just because he is the grandson of the Queen,’ says a military source.

‘So he has volunteered. He could spend a large portion of Christmas on the base, which will make it difficult to travel back for his traditional family Christmas 250 miles away in Sandringham.’

The Queen traditionally spends the holiday at the Norfolk estate with her children and their spouses, but unmarried couples are never invited until Boxing Day, when a time-honoured pheasant shoot is held.

‘The arrangements could work out perfectly for William. If he flies over the Christmas period he gets himself out of the intense scrutiny over his engagement and his Christmas plans with Kate,’ says the Royal insider. ‘But if he isn’t required to report for duty, he will be well thought of at the base to have offered in the first place.’

Kate, 28, who has spent three previous Boxing Days at Sandringham, is said to have encouraged the move to defer attention and is likely to return to her family home in Berkshire.


source:dailymail