Princess Anne Skips Royal Title on Christmas Card — Just Like Kate Middleton and Prince William

NEED TO KNOW

• Princess Anne skipped signing her 2025 Christmas card with a royal title

• King Charles’ sister signed a card sent to the Governor of Queensland simply as “Anne”

• Kate Middleton and Prince William don’t sign cards by their royal titles either, and there’s a reason

Princess Anne‘s 2025 Christmas card has been revealed, with her simple signature sparking buzz.

On Dec. 9, the Governor of Queensland, Australia’s office posted the Princess Royal’s Christmas card to Instagram, unveiling the well-wishes for the first time.

“With Best Wishes for a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year,” read a message printed inside the white card.

In handwritten pen, it continued, “from Anne and Tim,” referring to Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

The interior photo, captioned “Sark 2025,” showed Princess Anne, 75, and Sir Tim, 70, traveling by carriage when they visited Sark in the Channel Islands in May 2025.

Princess Anne and Sir Tim recently visited Australia in November to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, which the Princess Royal backs as Colonel-in-Chief, which the Governor of Queensland’s office said included a stop at Government House, where the card was sent.

A second snap shared by the Governor of Queensland’s office showed her royal monogram on the front flap — a coronet over the letter “A,” printed in blue ink.

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King Charles‘ sister is known for her driven approach to royal duty and has been considered the “hardest-working member” of the royal family by count of official engagements recorded in The Court Circular since 2021, clocking the most official duties. However, her no-nonsense attitude probably wasn’t the reason she skipped signing the Christmas card with one of her royal titles. Instead, there’s a bit of a precedent among the working royals.

In December 2024, Kate Middleton and Prince William didn’t sign their official Christmas card at all, which their office at Kensington Palace released to social media.

“Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year,” read the inscription next to a photo of them with their kids, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7. The family photo was a still from the September 2024 video that Princess Kate issued to share that she completed chemotherapy treatment after announcing that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. The Princess of Wales said in January that she is in remission.  

King Charles and Queen Camilla are another royal couple who don’t sign their Christmas cards either, as evidenced by their Christmas card released last week.

“Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year,” read the text in the message released Dec. 7.

It featured a photo of the King, 77, and Queen, 78, taken by Chris Jackson at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome in April to commemorate their 20th wedding anniversary — a sentimental choice to cap the end of the year.

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While it may seem unusual for the royals to skip signing their Christmas cards, there’s actually a practical reason behind it. Members of the British royal family reportedly avoid signing autographs due to the risk of forgery, and Princess Kate had a polite reply as to why she couldn’t sign the drawings she made with schoolchildren in 2022.

“My name’s Catherine. I’m not allowed to write my signature, it’s just one of those rules,” the Princess of Wales told kids at the Chelsea Flower Show then.

Princess Kate’s rarely-seen signature was recently spotted on a letter she signed for The Forward Trust’s Taking Action on Addiction Campaign to support Addiction Awareness Week, which she signed as Catherine.

Prince William, meanwhile, is known to sign personal messages on social media simply as “W,” while King Charles and Queen Camilla sign statements with “Charles R” and “Camilla R,” their regnal signatures as King and Queen.

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