Fan-Favorite Royal Samuel Chatto Made a Rare Public Appearance for King Charles’ Pre-Christmas Lunch

A fan-favorite royal made a rare appearance Thursday for King Charles' annual pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.

We knew attendance at the lunch would be down a little when news broke that the Wales family would be skipping the festive event and heading to their to their country home, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk, England to prepare for the royal family's Christmas celebration at the Sandringham estate, but, royal fans got an unexpected treat when young, fan-favorite royal Samuel Chatto was spotted arriving for the pre-Christmas lunch.

Chatto and his younger brother, Arthur Chatto, have both become favorites among royal fans, even though they're not working royals and don't undertake official duties for the royal family, which makes public sightings of the brothers rare.

As Express reports, Sam studied at Eton (Prince William's alma mater) and studied History of Art at the University of Edinburgh to study History of Art. Today, the young royal is an artist who sometimes shows off his pottery on Instagram.

"Samuel Chatto works from his studio in West Sussex, UK," according to a bio of Sam included in the caption for one of his Instagram posts showing off his pottery work. "Beginning his practice in 2018, he studied at North Shore Pottery, Latheron, Scotland, making functional objects inspired by the studio pottery movement and developing his passion for wood firing, digging clay and making glazes."

Of course, many fans of Sam are more obsessed with looking at his face than his artwork—and the same goes for his brother Arthur, who made headlines and became known in many corners of the internet as "the Queen's hot nephew" after his appearances at major royal family events like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding in 2018 and the Duke Of Edinburgh's memorial service at Westminster Abbey in 2022.

Samuel and Arthur are grandsons of the late Princess Margaret (their parents are Lady Sarah Chatto and Daniel Chatto), which means they were the late Queen Elizabeth II's grandnephews. Sam, Express notes, is currently 29th in line to the throne.

While it can be hard to predict exactly when Chatto brother spottings will occur, this is the second royal event Sam has attended this month. He was also photographed leaving the "Together At Christmas" Carol Service at Westminster Abbey, an event the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children also notably attended.

It's impossible to say exactly when the next Sam (and/or Arthur) Chatto sighting will happen, of course, but, FWIW, the Chatto family has been known to attend church with the rest of the royal family on Christmas Day in the past, which suggests that the brothers could be among the 45 royals reportedly on the guest list to celebrate the holidays in Sandringham this year.