The Princess of Wales is carrying on a unique custom and sharing a sneak peek at the planning!
The Princess of Wales’ team shared a brand-new, unexpected video on Nov. 13 that featured the invitations to her fourth annual carol service, “fresh off the press.” Shortly before, it was revealed that Princess Catherine, 42, would perform her Together at Christmas concert on Friday, December 6 at Westminster Abbey, the location of her wedding.
Princess Catherine’s team posted on X, “Something exciting is coming…” along with a music note and a Christmas tree emoji.
“The invitations are fresh off the press for this year’s Together At Christmas Carol Service, which will be returning to Westminster Abbey on Friday 6 December,” the caption continued. “We can’t wait for you to join us too! Tune in on @ITV and @ITVX on Christmas Eve.”
The brief video, which featured a metal press pumping to create the royal invitations, was set to festive music with jingling bells. The video showed that Princess Catherine’s royal cypher is placed on top of the white cards, but it did not fully reveal the coveted invitation.
The gold-stamped cypher displayed the letter “C” for Catherine, beneath a crown.
The Princess of Wales wants to honor those who help those in need — people who have “above all else, shown that love is the greatest gift we can receive.” Kensington Palace announced that 1,600 people will be invited to this year’s holiday concert.
“This theme takes inspiration from the Christmas story, which encourages us to consider the experiences of others and the important human need of giving and receiving empathy,” according to the palace.
The Princess of Wales will host her Together at Christmas concert in London next month, Kensington Palace announced at midnight on November 13 local time. Princess Catherine has not yet fully returned to her royal duties following her announcement on September 9 that she had finished chemotherapy, so this outing is anticipated to be her next significant appearance. After revealing in March that she was receiving cancer treatment, the Princess of Wales spent a large portion of 2024 out of the public eye to concentrate on her health.
Photo: The Prince and Princess of Wales/X
Along with other royal family members, Prince William is anticipated to attend the Together at Christmas concert; however, the presence of three VIPs will not be confirmed until that day. Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, the children of the Prince and Princess of Wales, attended the concert last year. It was Louis’ first time attending.
In order to honor the people and organizations that went above and beyond for their local community during the COVID pandemic, Catherine started the tradition in December 2021. Since then, she has hosted the concert annually to highlight the best that is being done in communities throughout the United Kingdom. The carol service has become a mainstay of the royal family’s yearly schedule since George and Charlotte first joined in on the festivities in 2022.
Most recently, the Princess of Wales was spotted at the royal family’s consecutive Remembrance events in London on November 9 and 10. After announcing that she had finished chemotherapy two months earlier, she made her first consecutive official appearances on Saturday at the Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall and on Sunday at the Remembrance Sunday at The Cenotaph war memorial.
Regarding what it meant to see Princess Catherine , royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE, “Being a senior member of the royal family and doing these ceremonial events is obviously important to her.”
“She is clearly a vital piece of the royal family, really important both symbolically and in reality as a future Queen. It was good that people saw her. You can’t say she is back… but she is coming back,” she adds.