Royal Fans Are Surprised By Camilla And Prince Charles' Christmas Card. Here's Why

Although the art of sending cards seems to be a dying breed, nothing stops the royal family from sending their own holiday card out every season. Family members from the Queen to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have shared their special note to the public for the holiday season, and the photo that they choose is very important (via Harper's Bazaar). So important, actually, that Queen Elizabeth actually preps the family's Christmas cards in the summer (via Mirror UK). It seems every single detail matters when you're royal.

From noting what photos are on Queen Elizabeth's desk during a holiday message to reading analysis from body language experts, people love trying to get a more personal look into the royal life. In fact, people are dying to know everything from what the royals eat to what their daily schedule is. There's just something so special about "knowing" more about the family that often stays behind big gated doors.

But for the holidays this year, Prince Charles and Camilla have chosen to give their own intimate moment to the public. Their holiday card is completely different than cards in years past, and fans are absolutely loving it.

Prince Charles and Camilla chose to share an intimate moment on their cards this year. It features Prince Charles helping Camilla put on her mask at the Royal Ascot in June 2021 (via People). This couple is not one to be intimate together in front of a camera, so this casual photo really does show a special moment in their lives — especially during the pandemic.

The royal couple has continued to perform their duties during the Covid-19 pandemic, and have made sure to follow mask protocol the entire time. Featured in the photo are two gorgeous silk masks, which show just how seriously they take safety protocols while staying classy. The pair have been vocal about their support of the vaccine as well.

"It is the most enormous tribute to the remarkable ingenuity and determination of everyone involved that, one year after the first Covid-19 vaccination, more than a hundred million doses have now been delivered," the couple said in a statement, according to Town & Country. "We can only offer our most heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all the scientists, volunteers and workers across the [National Health Service] who have helped bring about this extraordinary achievement."

The photo of Prince Charles helping Camilla put on her mask is without a doubt the most intimate Christmas photo of the couple that there has been. In the past years, other Christmas cards have featured the royal couple sitting together on a garden bench or riding in a car together (via People). None of them have ever showed the two as close as this year's photo.

This sentiment of the card definitely represents the past year of having to love and care for each other during the pandemic. The need for vulnerability has been huge across the entire globe, so it's special that the royal couple are also bringing that into their lives. 

The only message on the card is, "Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year" (via Instagram). It's safe to say that the photo says much more than that, though. For what has been another particularly hard year, with the passing of Prince Philip, Prince Charles' father, it's especially beautiful to see Charles and Camilla taking care of each other in hard times. 

The holidays were much different for Christmas 2020. While the royal family traditionally attends church at St. Mary Magdalene on Christmas day, there were no festivities in 2020 (via The Sun). This year, though, the holiday traditions are back on and things are starting to come back to normal as far as the royal family goes.

The family's holiday starts on Christmas Eve, with a game of football against the staff at Sandringham, according to the Independent. The publication states that the family then has a feast before exchanging gifts. Then, they place their presents on trestle tables before opening them together at tea time. That sounds like an awfully royal way of doing things. It will be interesting to see how family traditions look like this year for the royals. If Prince Charles and Camilla's Christmas card is any clue, the ongoing pandemic will definitely be in play during festivities. 

According to body language expert Judi James, the shot of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles featured on their Christmas card hints at their future with the royal family. "There's no real nod to Christmas here, but the more intimate moment in a rather formal setting does hint at the couple's future role as monarchs," she explained to Express. James elaborated, "[The photo] is exclusively about them, rather than any family reference or more informal posing, and it could subtly hint at Camilla's role as queen, being used to illustrate a kind of mutual support system for the couple, going forward." She wondered whether the couple was technically showing PDA or if they were simply referencing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, too. 

James described the gesture of fixing Camilla's mask as an "elderly one." However, she also acknowledged "the way Camilla's raised hand features her engagement and wedding rings does lent it a subtle air of romance." Likewise, the chosen photo isn't an official image per se, and feels at least slightly less formal than some of the others released this year. If anything, James believes the card gives fans a rarely seen "glimpse of the closeness between Charles and Camilla." The Prince of Wales, in particular, is shown in a softer light than usual, with his attention firmly, and sweetly, fixed on his wife.

With less restrictions in place across the U.K. than last year, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are no doubt looking forward to spending Christmas at the Queen's opulent Sandringham estate once again, particularly following the loss of patriarch Prince Philip. Per Elle, Charles and Camilla were stuck at home, in Highgrove, last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Their Christmas Eve gift exchange — which is in honor of the family's German heritage — typically involves a number of gag gifts, too, with The Daily Star reporting Meghan Markle once gave the Queen a singing hamster that caused her to "burst out laughing." 

Charles, meanwhile, was allegedly thrilled to receive a leather toilet seat from sister Princess Anne one year, per Elle. The royal family's joke gifts are pretty legendary at this stage — after all, what do you possibly get people who have everything? According to Hello! magazine, Markle once gifted brother-in-law Prince William a special spoon emblazoned with the words "cereal killer," while Prince Harry gifted his grandmother "A Big Mouth Billy Bass singing toy that was said to sit proudly in Balmoral, her Scottish retreat, and provide the Queen with great laughs" per the biography "Finding Freedom." Who knows what delights this year will bring?