What Kate Middleton and Prince William Are Trying to Say with Their 2023 Family Christmas Card

The family of five are sending a message with their monochrome look for this year's holiday card

Kate Middleton and Prince William are sending a message this holiday season — and it’s as plain as black and white.

For their 2023 family Christmas card photo, the Prince and Princess of Wales went with a monochrome look, with the family of five, including Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, matching in white button-down shirts and jeans. 

With no festive background or ornate setting, the photo doesn’t scream Christmas — or royalty. They left the pomp to King Charles, 75, and Queen Camilla, 76, whose Christmas card photo this year is a regal shot taken in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace following their coronation in May. 

But the Wales’ setting is a backdrop that could easily be found in any portrait studio in any city, in any country. As one fan cheekily commented on social media, "It’s giving JC Penny. They’re just like us!!!!"

And that’s just the message William and Kate, both 41, want to send as they strive to create a childhood that is as normal as possible for their three children.

"Those children look pretty happy with life," a palace insider told PEOPLE earlier this year. "A lot of it is the stabilizing normality Kate brings — and that's how she grew up. William absolutely loves it."

"Coming from a different background, she appreciates the importance of having family time," said a source close to the royal household. "She wasn't brought up in that aristocratic setting where you see the children for a short time each day."

That sense of normalcy was evident to photographer Josh Shinner, who snapped the photo earlier this year in Windsor, where the family have made their new home.

Related: Prince Louis Has a Cheeky Moment at Kate Middleton's Christmas Concert — and Mom Catches Him in the Act

“It was such a pleasure to photograph The Prince and Princess of Wales and their family for the Christmas portrait this year,” photographer Josh Shinner shared on his Instagram. “Without doubt one of the most relaxed and enjoyable sittings I’ve ever had, and I now have a whole new set of jokes that are right on my level thanks to the children…”

It’s not hard to picture the royal siblings joking around during their family’s portrait sitting. Prince Louis has been bringing the laughs at every major recent royal event! When asked to share the funniest joke the children shared by a fellow social media user, Shinner kept it discreet, saying, “Keeping those to myself I’m afraid!”

William and Kate have struck a delicate balance when it comes to what they share with the public as well. They carefully control what’s released about their children. And while they share family photos throughout the year on special occasions and reveal personal family anecdotes from time to time on royal outings, they are doing their best to raise their kids out of the spotlight when possible.

Nowadays, Princess Kate regularly drives her kids to school and makes sure she or Prince William is home most evenings for their return. And the family is not afraid to get a little messy, whether they're cooking pizza or playing outside. The Princess of Wales said in a 2020 interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast that she is happiest when "I'm with my family outside in the countryside, and we're all filthy dirty."

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Prince William and Princess Kate "consciously set out to achieve a sense of normality," said a close source, and the couple was expressly permitted by the late Queen Elizabeth and then-Prince Charles to focus on family above royal duties.

"Royal families over the generations haven't had the chance to get those foundations right, but they have,” said a friend.

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