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Two royal fans excitedly embraced each other after they were overcome with joy following their meeting with Kate Middleton during today’s royal walkabout in Sandringham.
The Princess of Wales, 42, joined her husband, the Prince of Wales, their three children, King Charles, Queen Camilla, and senior members of the Royal Family for the annual Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church.
After the 45-minute service, Kate greeted several well-wishers and members of the public – including some royal fans who camped overnight to catch a glimpse of the Princess.
In one especially sweet moment, two young women were so happy to have had the chance to meet Kate, they broke into a spontaneous hug after their interactions with the Princess.
A video from today’s royal outing showed the women looking visibly in awe of the Princess, before sharing a warm hug.
Hundreds of people lined the streets outside the church on Wednesday morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kate and other members of the Royal Family.
The first people in a queue of well-wishers waiting to see the Royals walk to church on Christmas Day arrived on Tuesday and camped out overnight.
Retired chef John Loughrey, 69, from Wandsworth, south London, said he and Sky London travelled by train to King’s Lynn then took a bus, arriving at Sandringham at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve.
Two royal fans excitedly embraced each other (left) after they were overcome with joy following their meeting with Kate Middleton at Sandringham today
‘We had sleeping bags with us and a heat pad,’ Mr Loughrey said.
He continued: ‘It was a bit damp last night.
‘We came here for Catherine. She’s been an inspiration the last year what she’s been through.’
The royals who walked to the service were greeted at the steps to the church by the Reverend Canon Dr Paul Rhys Williams.
They headed inside and the national anthem was sung before the first hymn, O Come, All Ye Faithful.
After the service, which lasted 45 minutes, the royal family greeted members of the public who had gathered outside the church.
Kate, 42, beamed as she greeted well-wishers who came with cards and bouquets of flowers
The Princess of Wales knelt down to greet one well-wisher who had brought a bouquet of yellow flowers
In one especially poignant moment, Kate hugged 73-year-old Karen Maclean from North Lincolnshire, who said she had had ’20 years of cancer’, as she spoke with both the princess and Charles about the disease.
Ms Maclean said: ‘We just had a little talk about cancer, really.
‘I’ve met the King before. He said to me ‘I can remember you’, I’m thinking ‘what!’, like many years ago?’
She said that Charles and Kate seemed ‘very well actually, considering what they’re going through’.
She added after hugging Kate: ‘What a privilege.’
Speaking to royal fans, Kate – who recently completed a preventative course of chemotherapy – said she was ‘hugely grateful’ to the hundreds of people who had written to her offering their support after her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Moments after she took a gift for her daughter Princess Charlotte, nine, from a little girl, who she wished Merry Christmas, a woman who had worked for Macmillan Cancer Support told Kate: ‘I just wanted to say you are an inspiration to all the patients.’
The Princess of Wales replied: ‘The amount of people who have written this year is extraordinary and I think cancer just really does resonate with so many families.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were picture with their three children, George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, at the church service in Sandringham
‘People like you are doing all the hard work out there. I’m hugely grateful.’
Another woman added, ‘We’re all behind you, never forget that,’ to which Kate replied, ‘Thank you very much, [that’s] so kind, nice to meet you.’
Members of the public who met Kate described her as ‘radiant’.
While Kate has begun a slow and measured return to public life after completing chemotherapy, King Charles’ treatment is expected to continue in the new year.
The King used his Christmas address to pay tribute to the ‘selfless’ doctors and nurses who provided ‘strength, care and comfort’ during cancer treatment for himself and the Princess of Wales.
In his annual message to the nation and Commonwealth, Charles offered his ‘heartfelt thanks’ to the medical teams who supported him and his family ‘through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness’.
It is understood the King’s doctors are very pleased with his progress and his ongoing treatment falls at the lower end of the scale in terms of its impact on his ability to work, and the first half of 2025 has a full programme of engagements.
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