The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Christmas card features a previously unseen wedding photo. Photo / Kensington Palace Twitter
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Christmas card features a previously unseen wedding photo. Photo / Kensington Palace Twitter
The Royal family have released their annual Christmas cards, with the Cambridge family and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sharing their favourite, and very different, photographs of the year.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released a glamorous black and white image showing them in a private moment at their wedding reception.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Christmas card. Photo / Kensington Palace Twitter
With their arms around one another, they are shot from behind as they watch the spectacular fireworks over Frogmore House, Windsor.
The image, by photographer Chris Allerton, has not been seen before, and captured an intimate moment for the newlyweds.
The Cambridge family shot, meanwhile, sees the Duke and Duchess in the countryside around their Norfolk home of Anmer Hall, dressed casually as their three children climb around them.
The Cambridges have released their new Christmas card. Photo / Kensington Palace Twitter
Prince George, seen wearing jeans and wellies instead of his customary smart shorts, larks around with his arm around his father, while Princess Charlotte cuddles between her parents.
Prince Louis, making a debut on the annual Christmas card, is held snugly by his mother, in a shot taken by Matt Porteous, a professional photographer who has worked with the family on several occasions before.
Porteous said: "It was an honour to be asked to photograph The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their family at Anmer Hall. Capturing the fun and relaxed moments between such a wonderful family was a true privilege."
A third Christmas card was released by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, with the couple sitting quietly together on a garden bench.
The Duchess is wearing a cream and crepe dress by Fiona Clare in the image, the same outfit she wore for the Prince's official 70th birthday pictures which featured the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The heir to the throne is wearing an Anderson and Sheppard suit, shoes by Crockett and Jones and a Turnbull and Asser shirt.
The message in the card reads: "Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year."
The photograph was taken by Hugo Burnand, who is used to working with members of the Royal Family as he took the wedding pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's nuptials in 2011 and Prince Charles and Camilla's big day in 2005.
The Prince of Wales also asked the photographer to take the birthday image which marked his 60th year in 2008, and he has taken a portrait picture of the Duchess.
Here is this year’s official Christmas card from The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.
The photograph was taken by Hugo Burnand in the garden of Clarence House this summer. pic.twitter.com/JeLfgVsEwY
— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) December 14, 2018
It is the first official Christmas card for the Sussexes since their wedding in May, with the release of special photographs now an annual tradition among all the Royal households.
It is also Prince Louis's debut, with the baby spending his first Christmas in the bosom of his family.
The Cambridges are now veterans of the card, which has captured their growing family each year since their marriage with the new additions of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and now Louis.
Next year, of course, the Sussex baby will make his or her first appearance as they embark on the annual tradition of their own.
The picture is a distinct contrast from the Cambridge's 2017 offering, when the family of four, as they were then, wore coordinated ice-blue outfits for a formal shot in front of a plain background.
The two images were released at the same time by Kensington Palace, and posted moment apart on their social media accounts.
They neatly showcase the very different styles of the two growing families.
