On Sunday night, William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, took their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, on a very Christmassy trip to a festive light trail.
The group were at the Luminate light trail, which runs for a mile through the Queen's Norfolk estate, Sandringham. It's also not far from William and Kate's country home, Anmer Hall.
In any other year, it'd look like a sweet festive family trip - much like the one the Cambridge family took to the London Palladium to watch the Royal Variety Show last month.
But the royals are being accused of breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules. Why? Because while they were there, they were pictured mingling with another faction of the royal family - Prince Edward, his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and their children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn. Prince Edward is Prince Charles's younger brother, making him Prince William's uncle.
If counted as a party of nine, the group are technically in breach of the 'rule of six'. Sandringham is covered by the current Tier 2 rules, which state: "You can see friends and family you do not live with (or do not have a support bubble with) outdoors, in a group of no more than 6. This limit of 6 includes children of any age."
But royal sources told the DailyMail.co.uk that the parties arrived separately, had booked separate slots to walk the trail, and had no intention of meeting up as a group. They stressed that any contact was inadvertent.
Everyone's clicking on...
Nonetheless, they were pictured chatting together by a member of the public as they made their way around the trail, and are facing criticism for doing so.
Throughout the pandemic, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been providing support and comfort to those most in need, via Zoom, but also in person (though socially distanced, of course). Earlier this month, they embarked on a three-day train tour of the UK, where they thanked frontline workers and met charitable organisations.
Cosmopolitan UK is out now and you can SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
