Charles and Camilla send out first Christmas card as King and Queen Consort

King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla have unveiled their first Christmas card since Charles ascended the throne.

Buckingham Palace shared the festive card on Sunday afternoon, December 11, on Twitter. The card itself is simple, yet elegant. On the left, it features the Royal Family’s crest embossed above the card’s message: ” Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year” while on the right we see a deep red border, wrapping around the sweet photo of the smiling royal couple.

????✉️ We’re pleased to share this year’s Christmas Card from The King and The Queen Consort.

???? @samhussein, taken at the Braemar Games in September 2022. pic.twitter.com/Dzpqf62TWf

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) December 11, 2022

The image chosen for this year’s Christmas card shows a candid shot of His Majesty and the Queen Consort at the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering on September 3, a week prior to Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

In the photo, the Queen Consort, who is dressed in a pine green dress coat with red plaid pipping and dons a matching hat with multicoloured feathers, lovingly gazes over to her husband who looks smart in his tweed suit jacket with gold accents.

This year’s photo was captured by royal photographer Sam Hussein, who also took the photo the couple chose for their 2021 Christmas card, which shows Charles fixing Camilla’s facemask as they attended Royal Ascot during the pandemic.

“Really proud that my photo has been selected as the King & Queen Consort’s Christmas card for a second consecutive year,” Hussein tweeted.

 

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The yearly release of royal Christmas cards from senior members of the Royal Family has been a long and honoured tradition.

Despite Charles and Camilla’s lengthy and very public romance, 2005 was the first year that Camilla appeared on the annual Christmas cards. The photo was taken at their wedding in April of that year and includes the newlyweds alongside their collective children Prince William, Prince Harry and Laura and Tom Parker Bowles.

Since then Charles and Camilla have appeared together in all their future Christmas cards, with the couple often opting for a more casual and fun image to appear on their cards, like the one from 2020.

The gorgeous photo shows then-Prince Charles and Camilla sitting on a bench surrounded by a stunning array of flowers in the garden at Birkhall, the couple’s home on the Queen’s Balmoral estate in Scotland. The jovial pair looked happier than ever with Charles gazing over at his wife as she smiled for the camera.

In 2019, the couple showed off their fun and relaxed personalities by choosing a photo taken from their trip to Havana. In it, the couple both donned black sunglasses as Charles drove them around in a classic convertible.