From: Dailymail.co.uk
With Christmas fast approaching the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are set to throw their support behind military personnel who will be spending the festive season away from their families.
The royal couple will complete two engagements during the first week of December, including a Christmas party for families and children of personnel from RAF Coningsby and RAF Marham who are serving in Cyprus
Kensington Palace said the couple want to ‘acknowledge and honour’ the fact that 7,500 military personnel are deployed overseas or away from home on exercises and may miss out on time with their families over the festive period.
On Wednesday 5th December, the couple will fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to meet with personnel, families and members of the local community.
The royal family has always maintained close links with the Armed Forces and both William and his brother Harry have previously served with the latter completing ten years in the British Army.
Prince William trained at Sandhurst military academy and when he graduated in December 2006 he was commissioned into the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry.
Two years later he received his RAF wings from his father, the Prince of Wales, and transferred from the Army to the RAF and made Flight Lieutenant Wales
Two years later, in 2010, he joined the RAF’s Search and Rescue Force.
In 2012, he was deployed for a tour in the Falkland Islands 30 years after Britain fought a war with Argentina to reclaim them
His active service with the Air Force came to an end in 2013, and he joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance in 2015.
In addition to their royal duties, Christmas will be a busy time for the couple who will be enjoying their first as a family-of-five after Kate gave birth to their third child Prince Louis in April.
The couple last year spent Christmas at Sandringham with the Queen and members of the royal family, however it’s not yet clear if they will follow suit for 2018.
In an interview on German TV channel, Leute Heute, earlier this month, Kate’s brother James said he was looking forward to a family Christmas that will give the Middletons a chance to ‘regroup’.
His comments suggest that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge may once again skip Christmas at Sandringham with with Queen in favour of spending 25th December at the Middleton home in Berkshire.
Describing the warm reception guests can expect to receive at Michael and Carole’s £4.7million mansion in Bucklebury, Berkshire, James, 31, said: ‘I welcome people into our family home. I want it to feel like it’s their home.
‘There’ll be turkey, champagne and some wine. For me it’s all about family. It’s one where we can all regroup.’
In 2016, William and Kate broke with tradition by spending the festive season with the Middletons rather than joining the Queen at Sandringham.
At the time experts said the decision was made to put the needs of George and Charlotte, who were then three and 18 months, first and give them a more relaxed experience rather than the formality of Sandringham.
