It's the most wonderful time of the year: All of your favorite royals (read: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II, and more) are gathering at the Queen's Sandringham estate to attend their annual Christmas service and spend the holiday together.
Though Meghan wasn't officially a duchess this time last year, the Queen still invited her to attend the festivities (opens in new tab) and spend quality time with the royal family. So much has happened since then with Meghan alone—her wedding (opens in new tab), her pregnancy (opens in new tab), her first charity initiative (opens in new tab), her first royal tour (opens in new tab), etc.—it's fascinating to see photos of the royal family at this time last year knowing how much everyone has experienced since.
Kate and Will had plenty of life changes of their own—including the birth of their third child Prince Louis (opens in new tab), their two eldest children Prince George, 5, and Princess Charlotte, 3, participating in stealing the show at two different weddings (opens in new tab), Kate becoming an aunt to her sister Pippa Middleton's first child (opens in new tab), and the Duchess of Cambridge's official return from maternity leave (opens in new tab).
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Even Queen Elizabeth experienced some big life changes, like officially passing on her duties like the royal patronage (opens in new tab) to the Fab Four. Of course, we can't forget about Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank who got married (opens in new tab) only a few months ago as well.
To put it simply, the royal family had themselves a year. Here's the whole clan at Sandringham last year:
Meghan wore a darker ensemble than last year, complete with a similarly shaped (but, again, darker) hat and matching bag. Kate wore a vibrant red coat with a matching fascinator, and the two chatted amiably as they entered the church. The most obvious difference between this year and last year, of course, is that Kate was pregnant with Prince Louis at the time, and now Meghan is expecting the latest addition to the royal family.
What a difference a year makes.
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