Why rarely-seen royal James, Viscount Severn might not appear on Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex’s Christmas card this year

There could be a very good reason why rarely-seen royal James, Viscount Severn might not appear on Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex’s Christmas card this year. 

• Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex’s Christmas card photos for the past two years haven’t featured their two children.  
• James, Viscount Severn has just turned 15 years old and the Countess has previously explained how they wanted him and his sister to “grow up as normally as possible”.
• This royal news comes as Prince William was spotted at his ex-girlfriend's Christmas wedding without Kate Middleton.    

He might be the part of the immediate Royal Family, but the youngest of the late Queen’s grandchildren, James, Viscount Severn, isn’t often seen compared to plenty of his cousins like Prince William and Princess Eugenie. Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex’s son turned 15 on December 17 and likely marked the day in private with his family as no photos of him were shared by the royals of his big day. And the same could be the case when the Wessex Christmas card photo is released. 

In previous years Prince Edward and Sophie’s Christmas card photo has been seen in late December, in the days after James’ birthday. But there’s one thing both the 2020 and 2021 cards have in common - neither Viscount Severn or his older sister Lady Louise Windsor were in them! 

Family Christmas photos are released by other members of the Royal Family each year too. Already fans have been treated to King Charles and Queen Camilla’s first one as monarch and Queen Consort and Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Christmas card photo was incredibly relaxed and heart-warming. 

Theirs also featured all three of their children, but the Wessexes didn’t choose to do this for the past two years at least. Instead, Prince Edward and Sophie’s Christmas card picture for 2020 showed the couple during a visit to Vauxhall City Farm and their 2021 snap was taken at an engagement at Forfar Golf Club. 

If they decide to uphold the tradition of sharing Christmas card photos that don’t have James, Viscount Severn or Lady Louise in them for 2022, there could be a very good reason behind this. 

As per Express.co.uk, the Countess told the BBC in 2016 how she and Prince Edward were focused on ensuring both children grew up “as normally as possible”. 

“Certainly when they were very young we tried to keep them out of it. Only because for their sakes, to grow up as normally as possible we felt was quite important," she explained. “And they’re going to have to go out and get a job and earn a living later on in life - if they’ve had as normal a start in life they possibly can get, then hopefully that will stand them in good stead."

Sophie echoed this parenting ethos when she spoke to The Sunday Times in 2020 and declared, “We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living.”

As their youngest child, James, Viscount Severn especially hasn’t been seen publicly very often over the years. He made rare appearances in September at a silent vigil for the late Queen alongside her other grandchildren, as well as at the Lying-In-State, her funeral and committal services. Fans also saw Viscount Severn over the Jubilee weekend and at the Commonwealth Games alongside his family. 

So it seems Prince Edward and Sophie’s son’s public appearances are generally at major events, whilst he retains a high level of privacy at most other times. Because of this, it could be seen as likely that the rarely-seen royal, James, Viscount won’t be included in any Wessex Christmas card photo this year.