Celebrity
Prince Louis’ Christmas Day Outfit Marked A Royal First
He ditched a pair of shorts and knee socks for tartan pants.
Prince Louis is making his own fashion rules. When Prince William and Kate Middleton’s youngest child stepped out for the royal family’s annual Christmas Day church service, the 5-year-old was sporting a more grown-up look in tartan pants.
As royal watchers have surely noticed, Louis typically wears shorts with knee socks, i.e. the so-called uniform for Britain’s upper-class children typically wear until their eighth birthday, for formal occasions, regardless of the weather. Last year he wore shorts, making 2023 his first Christmas in pants.
As etiquette expert William Hanson previously explained to Harper’s Bazaar in 2018, “shorts on young boys is one of those silent class markers that we have in England,” whereas “trousers are for older boys and men.”
Hanson added, “Although times are (slowly) changing, a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class — quite suburban.”
Louis’ Big-Boy Pants
Louis color-coordinated with the blue and green looks worn by the Prince and Princess of Wales and his siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, as they greeted well-wishers on the way to church. He also held hands with his cousin, Mia Tindall, during the walk.
Though it’s unclear if the tartan pants were hand-me-downs, Prince George also wore a similar pair for an early 2020 portrait with the late Queen Elizabeth, then-Prince Charles, and Prince William.
Louis’ church trousers weren’t his first of the 2023 holiday season either. The young royal also wore pants to his mom’s third annual Royal Carols: Together at Christmas at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 8.
Royal Holiday Traditions
Though Princess Kate’s candlelit community carol service is a newer annual outing, the family also took part in some more long-standing traditions in Sandringham, which is 100 miles north of London.
After attending morning services at St Mary Magdalene Church on Dec. 25, senior members of the royal family spent the day at Sandringham House, the King’s country estate, where they reportedly had multiple meals, including a turkey feast.
Dating back to the Queen Victoria era, the royal family also typically has Christmas Eve tea together at Sandringham’s White Drawing Room. Christmas Eve is also traditionally when they exchange gifts.
“By custom, at the start of the night, each of us located our place, stood before our mound of presents,” Prince Harry recalled in his memoir, Spare. “Then suddenly, everyone began opening at the same time. A free-for-all, with scores of family members talking at once and pulling at bows and tearing at wrapping paper.”
Though it’s unclear if the young princes and princess have adopted any sibling traditions of their own, Princes William and Harry also reportedly used to play a Christmas Eve football game with Sandringham Estate workers, while wearing the socks of their favorite teams.
There’s no word, however, if they paired them with shorts or pants.
