The royals are ready for Christmas!
Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George and Princess Charlotte appear to be in the holiday spirit in their holiday card. Chris Jelf photographed the family at Kensington Palace in October and released the picture Friday. In a statement, the palace said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge "are hugely appreciative of all the warm messages they have received about their family this year and are very much looking forward to their first Christmas as a family of four."
Jelf also released a statement via Kensington Palace that described the fall photo shoot in more detail. "I thoroughly enjoyed photographing a very lovely family, although you have to be sharp as you don't have long when there are two young children involved!" he said. "I hope everyone enjoys this photo and I am honored that The Duke and Duchess have decided to share it with the public."
Charlotte, 7 months, modeled the very same m&h dress and Amaia tights she wore in the portraits her mother recently released. George, 2, looked spiffy in Amaia knee-length socks and Start Rite shoes. Recently speaking to The Big Issue magazine, William said, "I think George will be extremely bouncy this year because he's suddenly worked out what Christmas is all about...If I get any sleep on Christmas Eve it'll be good." Meanwhile, William's father, Prince Charles, and his stepmother, Camilla Parker Bowles, released their own holiday card Thursday.
As for how William and Kate plan to spend their first Christmas as a "family of four," a source recently told E! News that they "will not attend Christmas Day lunch at Sandringham with the queen and the rest of the royal family. Instead, the plan at the moment is to host the day's festivities in their own home."
Holiday news aside, the palace also announced Friday that George has been enrolled at the Westacre Montessori School Nursery in Norfolk and will begin attending before the end of January 2016. "We are looking forward to welcoming George to our nursery where he will get the same special experience as all of our children," The Westacre Montessori School Nursery said in a statement.
The nursery, located just 10 miles away from his family home, Amner Hall on the Sandringham Estate, is housed in a converted chapel. The school accepts a maximum of 29 students at a time and costs a modest $49 a day. Both William and his younger brother, Prince Harry, attended Montessori nurseries. Kate, meanwhile, attended a local pre-school in Berkshire, near where her family lived at the time. The princes' cousin, Princess Eugenie, also attended the Winkfield Montessori School in Berkshire in 1992.
George will only attend the nursery when his family stays at their Norfolk home and will not be enrolled in classes when they stay at Kensington Palace in London.