As King Charles III and Queen Camilla unveiled their official Christmas card on December 7, 2025, the royal season quietly began. The photograph, taken in the peaceful spring gardens of Villa Wolkonsky during their state visit to Italy, shows the couple smiling beneath the soft Roman light. The card’s message is simple: “Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.” But behind the elegance of the image lies a more personal story about who will, once again, be absent from the family’s Christmas at Sandringham.
Queen Camilla’s plea last year was heartfelt. In the wake of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, she had asked her two children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, to join her for Christmas Day. It would have been the first time in many years. Yet this season, both have chosen to spend the holidays elsewhere, despite the standing invitation extended to them every year.
Why Camilla’s children are missing from Sandringham again
Tom Parker Bowles spoke openly last Christmas about his mother’s emotional request. She had told him, “I’d love you to come; I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time.” The past few years have weighed heavily on the King and Queen. Charles continues his cancer treatment. Camilla only recently recovered from a bout of pneumonia she suffered after returning from the couple’s 2024 tour of Australia and Samoa. Understandably, the Queen longed for a more intimate holiday with her children.
But as Tom explained, this year he will not be at Sandringham. “Nor is my sister. It’ll be every other year, one year on, one year off.” Instead, his Christmas Day will follow a tradition he has kept for more than a decade: heading to the west London home of his former wife, Sara Buys, to celebrate with their teenagers, Lola and Frederick.
He describes it with good humour. “It’s back to the sofa at my ex-wife’s,” he said, recalling the familiar ritual of spending the day in tracksuit bottoms, walking to the pub while the beef cooks, and attempting to convince his children to watch The Wild Geese. It may not be regal, but it is home.