Why Queen Camilla's Children Are Staying Away From the Royal Christmas Gathering

As King Charles III and Queen Camilla release their official Christmas card, attention has shifted to those who won't be joining them at Sandringham this year.

On December 7, 2025, King Charles III and Queen Camilla unveiled their official Christmas card for the year, sharing a portrait taken in the spring gardens of Villa Wolkonsky in Rome.

The image, released on the royal family's social media account, captures Their Majesties during their state visit to Italy earlier in the year, smiling beneath the soft glow of April sunlight. The card bears the simple message, "Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year."

Despite the Queen's plea last Christmas, both of her children will be spending this festive season elsewhere.

While the card marked the beginning of the festive season for the monarchy, it also served as a quiet reminder of the family members who will be notably absent from the traditional Sandringham Christmas gathering this year — including Queen Camilla's two children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.

Although an invitation is always extended, Queen Camilla has not spent Christmas Day with her children for many years. However, last year, following King Charles III's cancer diagnosis, the Queen reportedly made a heartfelt appeal to have her family by her side.

Tom, a respected food writer and columnist, spoke candidly at the time about his mother's request. "My mum said, 'I'd love you to come; I haven't had Christmas with you for a long time,'" he recalled, adding:

"It has been a hell of a two years for them. The older you get, the more conscious you become of mortality, especially with illnesses and the rest of it."

Indeed, the royal couple has faced a trying period in terms of health. While King Charles III continues to receive treatment for cancer, Queen Camilla herself has only recently recovered from pneumonia — an illness she battled after returning from the couple's 2024 tour of Australia and Samoa.

Despite the Queen's plea last Christmas, both of her children will be spending this festive season elsewhere. "I'm not [spending Christmas at Sandringham]," Tom confirmed. "Nor is my sister. It'll be every other year, one year on, one year off."

Instead of joining the royal festivities at the King's Norfolk estate, he will be spending Christmas Day at the west London home of his former wife, Sara Buys, with whom he shares two teenage children, Lola and Frederick.

"It's back to the sofa at my ex-wife's," he said, noting a return to a familiar, if less regal, routine. For Tom, Christmas traditions have long revolved around his children.

"For the past 15 years, it has been — I go back to my ex-wife's house, sit in my tracksuit bottoms, go to the pub while the beef's in, then try to get my children to watch 'The Wild Geese.' Classic," he revealed.

This year's royal Christmas will once again go ahead without Queen Camilla's children in attendance.

Queen Camilla's daughter will also be absent from Sandringham this year. An accomplished art curator and gallery director, she has built a private life outside the royal spotlight.

She shares three children with her husband, chartered accountant Harry Marcus George Lopes, whom she married in 2006 at St. Cyriac's Church in Wiltshire.

Though neither of the Queen's children holds a royal title, both have maintained close familial ties while forging their own paths. Tom, who has authored seven cookbooks and won the Guild of Food Writers award in 2020, has also endured personal loss.

He dated former journalist Alice Procope from 2019 until she died in 2021, seven months after she was diagnosed with cancer.

As for his mother, in reflecting on her earlier years, he has spoken of feeling protective during what he called "the bad days" of the mid-1990s, describing paparazzi aggression and "high-speed chases down the M4" that left lasting memories.

This year's royal Christmas will once again go ahead without Queen Camilla's children in attendance. Yet their absence does not reflect distance or disconnection.

As the royal household prepares for the holidays at Sandringham, Queen Camilla's role continues to bridge the traditional with the personal — even if, once again, her children will be celebrating elsewhere.