Prince Louis steals the show on Royal Family’s Christmas Day walkabout

All eyes were on Prince Louis yesterday [25 December] as he joined the rest of the Royal Family for their Christmas Day walkabout at Sandringham - and he was on his best behaviour. 

The Royal Family gathered together yesterday to celebrate Christmas at Sadringham in their usual, tradition-fuelled way. That meant, that before they ate their Christmas dinner, which Prince George, Charlotte and Louis were excluded from, royal fans got a chance to see and greet them as they made their annual Christmas day walk from the estate to St Mary's Magdalene Church for a service. 

Nearly every royal was in attendance, from Prince William and Kate Middleton, to Duchess Sophie, Princess Eugenie and even Sarah Ferguson. But it was Prince Louis and his cousin Mia Tindall who truly stole the show. 

Louis and Mia could be seen holding hands as they walked down from the Sandringham estate, and were pictured flashing big smiles and waving at the well-wishers who lined their route. 

And while some children may be less than thrilled to be torn away from their presents and paraded down to a church service, one expert believes Louis, who sits fourth in the royal line of succession, 'looked so excited' to be part of the tradition again after making his debut on the walk last year and was happy his cousin was there to look after him. 

Body language expert Judi James told The Mirror,  "Louis, like most small children on Christmas morning, looked excited but also impatient. Zara’s daughter had been given the job of anchoring his left hand while William held onto his right and even then he looked so excited he was pulling on his dad’s arm to get into the service.

"William placed a cupped hand on the back of Louis’s head in a gesture of affection but also of calming a child down. But even as he waited to do the greeting rituals with the clergy, Louis crossed one lower leg over the other as though keen to get launched into his Christmas Day."

It wasn't just Louis enjoying Mia's company during the chilly walk, though. Princess Charlotte was also pleased to be walking next to her cousin and the day proved they are both good friends. 

The girls walked closely beside each other throughout the majority of the walk and were seen whispering into each others' ears as they moved along. Their sweet behaviour drew much praise on X [formerly known as Twitter] with one user tweeting about the girls, "It melts your heart, doesn't it? They are clearly very close and I bet they get up to some mischief when they are all together. Wonderful memories being made."