As expected, Prince William, Kate, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle walked amiably together to church on Christmas morning in Sandringham along with other members of the royal family per royal tradition. It was a repeat of last year, with the Cambridges and the Sussexes taking up the same positions: men on the outside, women on the inside. 

This was always going to be the case. With all of the speculation recently about a feud between Kate and Meghan, they were never going to show up for Christmas to add fuel to the rumours and further thrust themselves into the spotlight, not on a day when the Queen was leading the procession. And by now they’re all experienced enough to know too that even though the outing seemed as pleasant as it could be, people will still microscope the sh-t out of the occasion to find any clue that they could interpret as a problem. The latest is that supposedly Meghan turned to say something to William and he blew her off while fixing his scarf.

That’s not my Video Assumption of what went down …is it yours? 

By Royal Christmas at Sandringham standards, we’ve seen a much better example of possible shade in the past: 

Between Princess Kate and Royal Meghan, there’s really nothing here to suggest that there’s actually a problem. They seemed relaxed together, smiling often. And you’ll see in the last photo in this Instagram carousel below (hit the arrows to flip through the pictures) that Meghan reaches out warmly to place her hand on Kate’s back as they enter they gates: 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Harriet (@at.home.with.harriet) on

As I’ve been pointing out, most of the headlines have been about the relationship between Kate and Meghan, because girl sh-t is usually a bigger seller than boy sh-t.

But that doesn’t mean that boy sh-t isn’t the source of the sh-t and that the wives, as usual, are having to eat whatever it is that their husbands are pouting about. My Photo and Video Assumption says that there actually isn’t all that much interaction between the brothers. As usual, then, it’s the women who have to hold up the side. Can we call this royal emotional labour? 

According to The Sun, it was the Queen and Prince Charles who were responsible for this display of Christmas cheer because they supposedly ordered the royal truce – one of two headlines ready-made for whatever the scene would be. It was always either War of the Royals or that they had to be told to get along. Telling us that it’s all been overblown was never an option. 

So that’s how we’re ending the year – with grins and curtseys and a show of solidarity. And ...no belly-cupping. I was wondering whether or not we’d get any belly-cupping with Her Majesty and Prince Charles around. And whether or not we’d get the belly-cupping in combination with the curtsey. The curtsey happened but not the cup. The handbag got in the way.