How Are Will and Kate Spending Their Christmas?

Sources close to the royal couple tell E! News the duo's plans for the holiday season

By Gina Serpe Dec 06, 2011 6:58 PMTags
Prince William, Kate Middleton, Duke and Duchess of CambridgeWPA Pool/Getty Images

This year marks Prince William and Kate Middleton's first Christmas as a married couple.

So, where will be the royal newlyweds hanging their stockings? And how will they be ringing in the new year?

Though the couple has yet to officially announce their holiday plans, sources close to Will and Kate tell E! News that the duo will most likely spend Christmas together at Sandringham, Queen Elizabeth's estate in Norfolk, England, with the rest of the royal family.

And only the royal family, as it currently stands.

The Middleton family will not be included on the actual day's festivities, but her sister Pippa Middleton is expected to travel over to spend Boxing Day—Dec. 26—with Will, Kate, Prince Harry, and the rest of the palace heavyweights. Her solo excursion to the grounds will coincide with the royal family's annual pheasant shoot—typically restricted to just members of the royal family and their significant others—and is reportedly at the urging of William, who wants to make Kate's first holiday with her in-laws as comfortable as possible.

Meanwhile, after Christmas, the merry trio of Will, Kate and Pippa is expected to travel together back to Bucklebury, where the Middletons live, to spend the following week with Kate's side of the family.

And from there? Duty calls. It'll likely be back into the royal fold for these two, who are reportedly mulling ringing in the new year with Prince Charles and Camilla at Birkhall, the private residence of the couple in Scotland.