Princess Kate Seems to be Breaking Tradition With Her 2025 Birthday Plans
The royal is said to be mixing things up for her 43rd birthday.


While 43 isn't necessarily a milestone birthday, when you've just gone through the 2024 Princess Kate did, every birthday is cause for celebration. As the Princess of Wales continues to recover from cancer treatments, it sounds like a low-key day is in the works—and in a different location than usual.
In the past, Prince William, Princess Kate, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have stayed at their country house Anmer Hall for her Jan. 9 birthday. It's a natural choice, since the Waleses spend Christmas at Anmer, which is located on The King's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.
The Princess of Wales often welcomes family and friends for her birthday, holding intimate dinner parties and shooting weekends in the countryside. But according to Hello!, this year, Kate is switching things up for 2025.
The outlet reports that the princess "is set to return to Windsor in the coming days" and will be celebrating her birthday back at the Wales family home, Adelaide Cottage.
The Princess of Wales greeted royal watchers on Christmas Day.
If her celebrations follow suit with previous years, she'll likely enjoy a quiet day at home with her family—in 2021, she even enjoyed a tea party hosted by her kids.
Former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond recently told OK! that the princess—who announced she was diagnosed with cancer in March 2024 after a planned abdominal surgery in January— must be "delighted that she is able to enjoy her birthday in comparatively good health, though of course she is still recovering."
Bond added that her January birthday "will mark the start of a new and hopefully happier year, and the end of one that has been brutal for the whole family."
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As for the rest of Kate's 2025 plans, a friend of the royals told Hello! that there shouldn't be expectations of a big return. "What we saw last year was her prioritizing her recovery, and there hasn't been a step-change in that. There's no press of a reset button as such."
The same day as Princess Kate's birthday, a member of the Royal Family will be flying off to America to represent The King, with Prince Edward set to attend former President Jimmy Carter's funeral in Washington, D.C.
Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.
Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.
Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.
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