Prince Harry’s absence at Royal Family Christmas now more ‘significant’ after Queen Camilla’s surprising invite

Queen Camilla’s son, Camilla personally extended the invite to the Sandringham festivities. But Harry? His chair at the table grows colder by the year.

Eden has called Tom’s attendance “very significant,” which is British polite-speak for awkward as hell. The King’s stepson is warmly welcomed into the fold, yet his actual flesh and blood remains absent for the fifth consecutive year. “To have the King’s stepson there, but not his son is significant,” said Eden. Yep, Harry didn’t just lose the royal family’s group chat—he’s been blocked. It’s hardly surprising, given the Sussexes’ increasingly strained ties to the Firm. Harry hasn’t ed a royal Christmas since 2018 – the year he and Meghan got married.

The Sussexes, for their part, are holding their own holiday bash stateside, reportedly inviting Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank to swap Sandringham sprouts for California sunshine. If true, Eugenie’s in a bit of a bind: does she spend Christmas sipping tea with the Windsors or mimosas in Montecito? Decisions, decisions. The royal equivalent of “Sorry, I’m double-booked” could lead to some very calculated New Year’s flights. Meanwhile, Camilla’s other child, Laura Lopes, is also expected to make an appearance at Sandringham alongside her trio of teenagers.

And while Tom is trading pub pints for palace protocol, it’s impossible to ignore the symbolism. For years, he’s happily opted out of the royals’ turkey-and-church routine, only for his mother to personally reel him in this time around. “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. So this would be a bit different,” said Tom in an interview with HELLO!. If Tom and his tracksuit-bottomed, pub-visiting, Wild Geese-watching traditions sound worlds apart from royal formality, you’re not wrong.

Let’s not forget, this is part of a larger pattern. Harry’s been ghosted all year long: no invite to Trooping the Colour, no father-son meeting during his Invictus Games visit—just a lot of excuses about “scheduling conflicts.” Charles might as well put “No Vacancy” signs up at Buckingham Palace. And now, with Camilla’s brood sliding into Sandringham like it’s just another Sunday roast, the snub feels less like an accident.

At this point, Harry’s absence feels less like a blip and more like a statement—one that grows louder with every ing holiday. Is it by choice or circumstance? Or sheer stubbornness? We can’t really tell, but there’s one thing we can: the family relations remain anything but jolly.