Wales family Christmas card

[LycheeBaby]

cant work out what I think about this. They all look lovely, match, but it’s not very festive. Bit drab- colour would have been better.

They can't do right for doing wrong.

Maybe they thought that too much glitz and obvious wealth would be inappropriate when so many of us are suffering from the COL

Also, a 'yay partay' vibe might also be considered inappropriate with the wars that are going on atm

I actually think the B & W look is a nod to all the crap out there

I'm no royalist but jeez Harry, Meghan and Scoobie Doo have really ratcheted up the angst lately - maybe the Waleses feel a bit B and W?

Not great. B&W is fine but there’s nothing to suggest Christmas or the holiday season. It’s just a bit odd really.

It’s an odd choice for Xmas, so grey and dull. Are they trying to look poor? Matching clothes are always odd. It’s very bizarre. William looks so much older than he is.

Oh I think they could do better than that! A nice one outdoors on a family walk or something. Maybe they’re trying to make up for the criticism they got for the one taken in Jordan a couple of years ago and are trying to keep it simple.

William is 6"3' and Jaye is 5"9' but she looks much shorter is this photo. I prefer a closer, in colour photo than this one.

I thinks it’s a tough one to choose the right picture - very few of their holiday portraits have any link to Christmas so this one follows that tradition. I thinks it’s a lovely portrait of them all personally - I wouldn’t have chosen it for a card - but it’s a very nice picture not at all dissimilar to the formal family portraits I’ve seen in people’s living rooms.

It looks like a photoshopped photo from an 80s film where this pic would be a family newspaper announcement.

Photogenic family and agree that the themes are unity, timelessness etc The King and Queen went for a coronation photo so I guess that they avoided that day which was the biggest family event of the year.

George and Charlotte look older than 10
and 8 here

I like it.

It’s got a touch of the Beckhams or Stacey Solomon or someone about it. Kate’s overegged the hair extensions to turn-of-the-century Posh Spice levels and the black and white looks like a non-posh person’s idea of posh. Like overly staged wedding photos people frame and put up in their hallway.

George and Charlotte look older than 10 and 8 here

They look their age, year 6 and year 4 at school? Charlotte just looks older than we usually see her looking because her hair is down.

No royalist but I like the photo. Maybe some sort of small Xmas tree or something in the background would have made it more Christmassy but then they’d have to use colour really. They look happy, & informal for them.

I agree. The Christmas Cards are about presenting an image, and this says ‘serious, doing the job, team players’. I think this year it’s a better choice than ‘Boden catalogue’ or ‘Vogue shoot’ or ‘At a shooting weekend’.

In my opinion they are not ramming cheery festive vibes down everyone's throats. It's subdued. In keeping with the difficult times people are having with the cost of living crisis.

I agree with you about 'maybe some sort of small Xmas tree in the background' but I don't think it would have needed to be in colour. Just a hint of Christmas somewhere.
Do photographers like black and white? Our black and white family photos age better than the coloured ones, although the colour won't have been as good as it is now.

The hand around the waist doesn't look right. She would have to have a five foot long arm!

I'm not wild about B&W photo for a Christmas card - I think it looks too chilly.

And the way Louis' hand is spread over the arm of the chair makes it look clawed - wondering if he likes to spend time being a dinosaur or monster

Have you been watching Doctor Who?

They missed a trick. They could have all been in Santa outfits or had a 'Frozen' themed card.
Kate could be Elsa, Willy could be Kristof. The kids could be Sven, Olaf and Troll lady.
They're no fun!

My first thought was that Kate had bought a load of those cards you can slip a photo into which were particularly garish in last years January sale. She went to the loft and tried to hide them, but William felt they should use them.

Just kidding, it's a bit of a dull photo, but the world isn't exactly awesome at the moment. Maybe they wanted to reflect that?

My son is Charlotte's age and overnight he has started to look more grown up so I can understand this.

I don't get this - do you mean Kate's arm around George's waist? Looks normal to me, that a mum can reach her arm around a 10 year old leaning into her.

What they really need is coloured lights, tinsel and an inflatable Santa, right?

Personally, I consider Christmas Cards that are of your own family a bit naff, but it is a tradition with the RF, and they always do so.
I would rather they chose a family pic with something christmassy in the background, such as a Christmas Tree, or other baubles, but maybe that would be considered a distraction from the family group.
Not a fan of black and white, but I like the composition of the family group.
I presume several pics were taken, or William and Catherine chose that pic out of a selection of different options.

I'm just impressed that they managed to get a shot where everyone looks nice and is facing the camera.

Royal cards are always a bit unchristmassy. I did see some images from William's childhood with he and Harry and one of them was in a chair like this. Plus Charles and Diana used to use studio shots so maybe it's throwback, or maybe they listened to past criticism of other cards or maybe at this point they know they can't win and just choose an image they like.

I love the photo. Odd choice for a Christmas card, though.
Charlotte looks amazing!