‘Prince William and Kate Middleton’ News: Couple To Skip Prince Phillip’s Boxing Day Shoot

William and Kate are skipping Christmas dinner at Sandringham for an afternoon and a boxing day tool with the Middletons. The shoot was arranged by Kate's mother Carole means missing out on Prince Phillip's traditional shoot on the Norfolk estate where the Queen will spend Christmas.

The Duke and the Dutchess will leave the estate before the Turkey is served to travel to the Middletons' £5million mansion in Berkshire. On that day, the couple will join Kate's sister Pippa and her husband-to-be James Matthews, at the Yattendon Estate in Thatcham, near Newbury.

They are routine to shoot partridge and pheasant at the boxing day event, which is reported to cost around £9,360, charged at £39 plus VAT per bird. There are minimum 200 of them. A recent report suggests that William did not want to shoot at Sandringham so Carole has negotiated a deal to shoot at the Yattendon Estate. Special concessions have been arranged in wake of Carole's royal connections.

William and Kate have missed the royal celebration before back in 2012 when Kate was pregnant with her son and was suffering from an acute form of morning sickness.

Eventually, they re-joined the family at the Queen's 20,00 acre Norfolk estate for Prince Phillip's traditional Boxing day pheasant shoot. This year's shoot at the Thatcham might be a snub for Prince Phillip as it is rumored that he is not enjoying enough time with his grandchildren.

Princess Charlotte and Prince George also often stay with their material grandparents whenever their parents are away and do not take the children.

On the Boxing day, the party of up to nine guns will be allowed to shoot up to 500 birds on the estate, boosting Berkshire's finest driven partridge and pheasant shooting.

The party is set to be breaking for sausage sandwiches for elevenses and will continue the shooting until lunch in the shooting lodge. Christmas at Middleton's Georgian Pile in Berkshire is also likely to be more fun than the sedate celebrations at Sandringham, including daily visits to church.

Kate's sister Pippa has previously written about magical family Christmases and how their father dons fancy dress costumes including once that of a sumo wrestler.

The entire family will go to church on Christmas Day at nearby St Mark's Church in Englefield, where Pippa will wed next year.

Among the royals expected to go to Sandringham on Christmas Eve now are Prince Harry, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence and Prince Edward with his wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and their children, Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn.