Queen Camilla’s children choosing not to spend Christmas at Sandringham helps to normalise the Royal Family, according to royal commentator Laura Windsor.
Tom Parker Bowles has confirmed that he and his sister Laura Lopes will not be joining their mother and King Charles at Sandringham this Christmas, citing an “every other year” arrangement and their own family plans.
Ms Windsor, who advises Royal Families in the Middle East, exclusively told GB News she believes the decision helps the monarchy appear more relatable, rather than weakening it.
“It normalises them, and they have to do that in order to survive,” she said.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
She argued that the late Queen Elizabeth II embodied tradition in a way that insulated the institution from pressure to change, but that the landscape is now different.
“When the Queen was alive, we loved the Queen; she brought tradition with her, and there was no way that that was going to change,” Ms Windsor said.
“But now that she’s no longer with us, it’s King Charles’s responsibility to make sure that they are more modernised.”
Ms Windsor claimed Charles has long been interested in modernisation, but that the moment for it has arrived now.
Queen Camilla's children 'normalising' Royal Family with Christmas decision
|GETTY
“He already was thinking about that before,” she said. “He was just waiting for the chance.”
Rather than presenting the royal Christmas as a perfectly sealed family unit, she suggested it is beneficial for the public to see the same kinds of practical choices that exist in ordinary families.
“It normalises them, and that’s what we like,” Ms Windsor said. “We like to relate. It’s nice to see that they’re human.”
The absence of Mr Parker Bowles and Mrs Lopes also highlights the reality that Camilla’s family is blended and operates on its own rhythms, even with her now Queen.
LATEST ROYAL DEVELOPMENTS
Tom Parker-Bowles is the 51-year-old son of Queen Camilla and ex-British Army officer Andrew Parker-Bowles
| PAMr Parker Bowles emphasised that the invitation to Sandringham has been available but that the siblings are prioritising time with their own children and arrangements.
Ms Windsor suggested the monarchy can no longer afford to present itself as remote or untouchable, particularly when public attitudes to hierarchy have shifted.
“Kings and Queens were considered Gods at one time, and therefore that’s why we couldn’t touch them,” she said.
“We put them on a pedestal.”
Queen Camilla's daughter Laura Lopes attending a royal event | GETTYShe argued that a pedestal image now risks alienating the public rather than impressing it.
“Now, if they carry on with that image, it’s not just not going to work with modern society, and it’s casualness,” Ms Windsor said.
She added that “casualness” is not simply about clothing but about the tone the institution sets, and whether people feel they can recognise themselves in it.