The surprising message the Royal Family sent makes their 2026 priorities clear

The King's Christmas Day speech wasn't the only message the royals delivered late last year and this one came through loud and clear as soon as I saw them walking to church in Norfolk. This tradition has been kept going for decades now and it gives us an opportunity to see more of the Royal Family out in public than usual.

Even so, I was surprised to spot Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice with their husbands alongside the King and Queen. Just days earlier, reports had suggested the sisters wouldn't have Christmas at Sandringham House and yet, there they were.

In the aftermath of Andrew being stripped of his Prince title, his daughters had kept a low profile. Neither attended the Princess of Wales's Together at Christmas carol service, perhaps to avoid the headlines being all about that and not the event itself.

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They could have chosen to spend the festive season with Andrew and Sarah Ferguson at Royal Lodge. It's thought to have been the last ever Christmas the former couple will have there before moving out. However, Eugenie and Beatrice took their uncle up on his invite and they didn't shy away from the public either.

Princess Eugenie walked close behind King Charles and Queen Camilla and Beatrice and her husband Edoardo were seen chatting with Zara Tindall and her daughter. The message of family unity from His Majesty and his nieces couldn't have been clearer.

When it was first announced that Andrew would relinquish using his Duke of York title, reports suggested King Charles wished for Eugenie and Beatrice to be "protected" from their parents' fall from grace. They have retained their own titles and His Majesty inviting them to Christmas signals that they remain at the heart of his family.

I think it's incredibly interesting that Eugenie and Beatrice accepted the invite for this first Christmas after their father became Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It shows they're very much keeping their relationships with the wider family going strong.

However they might feel privately about everything that's happened with Andrew and Sarah, their choice of Christmas venue could be viewed as public support for the King and the Royal Family heading into 2026.

Beatrice, whose place in the royal line of succession means she's a Counsellor of State to their uncle, has represented him before. It's possible that she might continue to do so, and she and Eugenie are likely still going to go to Royal Ascot and other events.

Christmas Day was their first big appearance in months and they had the support and company of so many other royals alongside them, no doubt making this slightly easier than it might otherwise have been.

"They did the right thing - showing loyalty to King Charles and to the Crown. It's easy to say this is a snub [to their parents], but they would say, 'I'm a royal princess, I'm in line to the throne, I have been invited to attend the King's Christmas celebrations and you don't turn down the King's invitation,'" royal author Robert Jobson recently said of the sisters' decision.

As Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice are both non-working royals the next big family occasion they might attend is Easter at Windsor Castle. Like at Christmas, the royals are seen walking to church and it’ll be interesting to see if they take up this invitation too.