Prince Louis pulls a cheeky face while heading into Buckingham Palace for Christmas lunch

You might expect King Charles to be the star of his own pre-Christmas lunch where he hosts many senior royals to celebrate the season.

The monarch should be the centre of attention as Buckingham Palace welcomes the Royal Family ahead of the official holiday.

But Prince Louis, seven, may have snatched the spotlight with a cheeky expression as his car arrived to the party on Tuesday.

The young royal lived up to his iconic reputation of shaking up stuffy formal events when he pulled a funny face on his way to the event.

He was joined by his siblings Prince George, 12, and Princess Charlotte, 10, as the Waleses returned to the Christmas lunch. They had skipped it last year while Princess Kate was recovering from cancer treatment.

The Prince and Princess of Wales instead went ahead with spending the Christmas holidays at Amner Hall, Norfolk, in 2024.

This year, Prince William and the family made their return to the lunch for a gathering that saw the notable absence of the disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Pictures of the Waleses arriving show Princess Kate and her daughter Charlotte twinning with festive bows in their hair, both wearing red dresses for the seasonal occasion.

Kate also wore £6,300 Van Cleef earrings, smiling on the drive to Buckingham Palace.

Prince William and his sons George and Louis wore sharp suits to see their extended family.

They joined Princess Anne at the Palace too, who was seen travelling to the lunch with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence.

The King’s sister was pictured wearing a festive red in the car alongside her husband, retired Royal Navy officer, in a suit and tie.

Senior royals tend to gather for this festive party around a week before Christmas Day, which the family spends at the Sandringham Estate.

The Duchess of Edinburgh attended the extended family’s party as well with the Duke of Edinburgh and their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 22.

Princess Eugenie and Beatrice were also seen ahead of the lunch. Although their father Andrew has been stripped of his titles due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein, their status has remained unchanged.

The King’s nieces beamed as they arrived at Buckingham Palace together to celebrate Christmas. Eugenie and Beatrice had not attended Kate’s carol concert on December 5, but were back in the fold on Tuesday.

The lunch was the first time the sisters have gathered with the Royal Family since King Charles decided to strip Andrew of his princely titles.

Princess Eugenie marked the festive season by wearing a pair of candy cane earrings. She was joined by her husband Jack Brooksbank, with whom she shares sons August, four, and Ernest, two.

In stark contrast to the celebrations, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor struck a forlorn figure as he got caught in the rain with just a horse for company.

Stripped of his last title and pictured in the latest batch of photos released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, Andrew grimaced in the storm as he rode around Windsor Park with a male companion this morning.

Just weeks after he was stripped of his royal titles, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has faced the final humiliation after losing his last remaining military title.

The 65-year-old can no longer call himself a Vice-Admiral after he was demoted following a meeting of the Defence Council.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the decision was made after King Charles ‘indicated’ he should be stripped of the last title.

2025 has seen the former prince officially become a commoner, losing his status after more details about his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released.

He was pictured in the latest batch of photos released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate exchanging a glance with Bill Gates.

It came as Virginia Giuffre’s family say they are ‘deeply disappointed’ by the Met Police’s decision not to investigate the claims that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor tried to ‘dig up dirt’ on her.

The disgraced former prince was alleged to have passed Ms Giuffre’s social security number and date of birth to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard.

According to claims first published in the The Mail on Sunday in October, Andrew first handed over Ms Giuffre’s details to his close protection officer in 2011 and instructed him to find dirt on her as part of a smear campaign.

However the Met’s chief specialist crime commander said the force had not received any evidence to justify opening a probe.

The family of Ms Giuffre have said they are ‘deeply disappointed’ by the force’s decision to drop the investigation ‘without explanation’, adding they were not told this announcement was coming.

They said in a statement on Saturday: ‘We emailed with a detective from the Metropolitan Police yesterday, Friday, Dec 12th, who gave us no indication that this announcement was imminent.

‘Indeed, he asked us if we had any evidence we would like to present; we had not yet replied.

‘With the Epstein files about to be released by (the US) congress since the passage of the Epstein Transparency Act, we are surprised that the Metropolitan Police didn’t wait to see what further evidence might appear.

‘While we have hailed the UK’s overall handling of the case of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor previously, today we feel justice has not been served.

‘We continue to challenge the system that protects abusers, especially as more evidence comes to light that can hold people accountable.

‘Our sister Virginia, and all survivors, are owed this much.’