The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will spend Christmas at the Middleton family home, St James's Palace said today.
Prince William and his pregant wife are to spend the day privately in Bucklebury, Berkshire - a decision taken with the approval of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The royal couple also plan to visit the Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk, during the festive period.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will spend Christmas Day privately with the Middleton family."
It means that neither William nor Harry will be in Sandringham this year as Harry is in Afghanistan.
Kate's sister Pippa has given an insight into her family's festive plans. Writing in the latest edition of The Spectator magazine, she said Christmas in Bucklebury was likely to be "blissfully calm". "Home is, happily, where I'll be this year," she said.
"The Middletons' Christmas should be blissfully calm. We're good at keeping each other's spirits up."
And she revealed that her father Michael liked to surprise the family by appearing in fancy dress. "He buys a new costume each year and typically gets a bit carried away - a couple of Christmases ago, he appeared in an inflatable sumo outfit," she wrote.
The Duchess's return to the bosom of her family comes after a testing few weeks for Kate who was was forced to announce her pregnancy earlier than planned when she was admitted to hospital. Days later she and Prince William found themselves offering their condolences to the family of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, 46, who who discovered hanging in her nurses' quarters after answering a prank call made to the hospital by two Australian DJs impersonating the Queen and Prince of Wales.
The Duchess made her first public appearance following her hospital stay at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Awards on Sunday night.
