The Duchess of Cambridge puts "duty before self" when it comes to celebrating Christmas, a royal expert has said.
This year, Kate and Prince William along with their children George, Charlotte and Louis are expected to spend the big day with the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family at Sandringham.
It will be the Queen's first festive season since the death of her beloved husband and William's grandfather Prince Philip in April.
And royal expert Katie Nicholl has pointed out that Kate puts her position as a senior royal above all else at Christmas by spending it with her husband's family - rather than her own relatives.
She told OK! : "In the early years of being a family, they did try to alternate Christmas, one year with The Queen and the Royal Family and the next year with the Middletons, but Kate and William put duty before self and we can see that more now than ever.
"So there is a sacrifice on Kate's part because Christmas is a very big thing for the Middleton family, but they put The Queen first and make sure they are there on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Sandringham.
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"But, it's probably a lot of fun for the Cambridge children that they get to celebrate Christmas twice - once with their great-grandmother and the Royal Family and then again with the Middletons at their Bucklebury home."
But despite celebrating Christmas several times, fellow royal expert Duncan Larcombe says William and Kate will be eager to make sure their children aren't spoiled in any way.
He said: "I think we’re looking at three Christmases rolled into one for William and Kate and their children.
“There will be Christmas on their own with their kids, the more formal celebrations at Sandringham with William’s family and then time with Kate’s family, the Middletons.
"But something we know for sure about William and Kate is that they want their children to feel normal and so they certainly won’t be lavishing them with expensive gifts, that’s for certain. They won’t let them be spoiled.”
However, it has been revealed that when they do go to Kate's mum Carole's house, she will be hiding some special festive decorations in her home.
She recently said she'd be placing festive gonks - Christmas gnomes from Scandinavia - around her house.
In recent years the decorations have boomed in popularity across Britain and Carole, whose Party Pieces business sells the dolls, wrote on her firm's Instagram page: "I’m going to need a few of these cheeky chaps this December, to hide around the house and make my grandchildren laugh.
“As much as I love immaculate decorations, we can’t be too serious at Christmas!”
