Lady Sarah Chatto has joined her royal family members at Buckingham Palace for their annual family pre-Christmas lunch.
Sarah, 61, arrived at the London Palace with her husband Daniel and her elder son Sam, 29, for the annual occasion, as well as her niece, Lady Margarita Armstrong Jones, who could be seen in the car next to her doting aunt.
© Max MumbyLady Margarita is a British jewellery designer and the daughter of Lady Sarah's brother, David Armstrong-Jones, and the granddaughter of Princess Margaret.
Sarah and David also share their younger son, Arthur, 26, who doesn't appear to be in attendance this year. He, unlike his brother, who shares regular updates on his life as a ceramicist - an artistic trait he inherited from his mother, Sarah, who attended the Camberwell School of Art - likes to keep his life as a royal marine away from the spotlight.
© Max MumbyMuch-like her cousin and aunt, Lady Margarita too has the Armstrong-Jones creative side, something which she told HELLO! in our exclusive interview with her is likely inherited from her grandfather, Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl of Snowdon, who was a renowned British portrait photographer.
On inheriting her photographer grandfather’s creative eye, she muses: "Well, it must have come from somewhere. "He was a phenomenal photographer – weirdly, I’ve just bought one of his books about interesting places in London architecturally, so there is some ongoing overlap. The people that he photographed were just incredible."
Sam's rule-breaking royal Christmas
While Arthur only occasionally surfaces for royal events, Sam had a rather rule-breaking Christmas at Sandringham last year, when he brought his girlfriend and fellow artist, Eleanor Ekserdjian, to the royal family Christmas Day celebrations.
© Getty ImagesTraditionally, married partners of royals join the family for their annual Christmas Day walkabout. Prince Harry defied convention in 2017 when he was joined by his then-fiancée Meghan Markle prior to their 2018 nuptials, which sparked engagement rumours for Sam and Eleanor.
The pair have a lot in common, both of them are studying at the University of Edinburgh. Eleanor, who is the scion of the lauded art historian Professor David Ekserdjian and Financial Times art critic Susan Moore, graduated in 2019 with an MA in Fine Art.
Why does the King host pre-Christmas lunch?
The tradition of hosting up to 70 members of the extended royal family ahead of Christmas Day was started by Queen Elizabeth II. It is thought of as an opportunity for the monarch to bring together members of the extended family who won't necessarily be present on the Christmas Day celebrations at Sandringham.
