Kate Middleton breaks major royal tradition in new Christmas card as it's released days after Meghan and Harry’s

Kate Middleton reportedly broke a pretty major royal tradition with her new Christmas card.

The Prince and Princess' card was released to the public earlier this afternoon (19 December), just a matter of days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released theirs on Monday (16 December).

And, right off the bat, there are quite a few notable differences between the two festive cards.

Namely, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted for six individual snaps while William and Kate stuck with just one full family photo.

Interestingly, a royal expert accused the couple of having broken royal protocol by choosing not to release a single image.

Additionally, the Wales' shared their Christmas card in the form of a GIF this year with the loop being uploaded to Kensington Palace's official X account.

"Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year," the card's message read, compared to the Sussexes' which read: "We wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyful New Year."

The GIF shows snow falling in the foreground of a computer generated Christmas card, which itself contains an image of the pair with children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte nine and six-year-old Prince Louis, placed in front of a twinkling tree.

But it wasn't the GIF element part of the card which broke royal tradition - it was the fact the photo chosen has previously been seen by the public before.

The image of the family-of-five was actually taken the same day that a video was recorded back in September, where Kate revealed she'd concluded her recent round of chemotherapy.

The choice to use the previously-seen photo marks a notable change in the tradition, given that William and Kate are known to share brand-new pictures for their annual Christmas cards.

In other news, William and Kate weren't in attendance at King Charles' pre-Christmas lunch today at Buckingham Palace.

A royal source said the pair are already in Norfolk at their property on the Sandringham estate, Anmer Hall, as had been planned, and are looking forward to spending time with the rest of the Royal family at Sandringham over Christmas.

Anmer Hall is where the family-of-five often retreat to during the school holidays.

An insider revealed via the Royal Observer: "Whether the Prince and Princess of Wales attend the King's luncheon or opt for an early retreat to Anmer Hall, their choices will undoubtedly influence public perceptions of the Royal family's balance between duty and personal life in this most bizarre of royal years."