King Charles and Kate Middleton's Yuletide Bond: Monarch Guarantees 'Relaxed' Christmas for Beloved Daughter-in-Law After Rough Year for Both

His Majesty King Charles III, 76, is about to oversee the British royal family's third Christmas under his reign, and the monarch is said to be taking extra care to make it "relaxed" for Kate, Princess of Wales, 42.

"I think they’ll both be looking out for each other, they adore each other, I’m sure he’ll want her to be completely relaxed and there will be no pressure or effort at all for Catherine," former royal butler Grant Harrold said on behalf Slingo.

Both the King and future queen battled undisclosed types of cancer throughout 2024, with His Majesty still receiving chemotherapy treatments to this day. The Princess of Wales announced in early September she was cancer-free after six months of the "harsh" procedures.

Harrold revealed, "Even to have gone there would be no effort or pressure, obviously he would’ve liked her there not because it’s rules but because it’s family and he’ll be delighted she is coming. He obviously adores her and they have a great relationship."

A palace source shared this sentiment back in March by stating, "The King has always had a close, warm, and unique relationship with the princess. She has a great love and respect for him and his position. When they were in hospital together there was a lot of toddling down the corridor to spend time with her. He has been encouraging and supporting her throughout."

"He's not a father figure as such — she’s got her own dad to whom she's absolutely devoted — but you could say the king treats her like the daughter he never had," a report published on March 23 affectionately observed. "You see it in the pictures of them together. That relationship is best summed up in those fascinating moments when she greets him first with a kiss and then with a curtsy."

The growing bond between monarch and queen consort-in-waiting received wide exposure this past spring when a reported lunch meeting between the wife of the heir and her Sovereign took place on March 21.

A source explained, "It is highly unusual for just the two of them to sit down together like this. The King had already been made aware that the woman he calls 'my beloved daughter-in-law' had cancer. They would have had lots to discuss and share because just weeks earlier the King had begun his course of treatment and dealt with announcing his diagnosis. The King left his lunch feeling very emotional."

The royal family will gather at Sandringham House in Norfolk, per annual tradition, in which His Majesty and Queen Camilla, 77, will host some 45 guests. Kate and Prince William, 42, along with their children, are also reported to be holding a celebration nearby at Anmer Hall on Christmas Eve.