The Princess of Wales attended her annual Christmas carol service with her family at Westminster Abbey this evening – as Prince Louis left a message for his grandparents on the “kindness tree”.
Kate, 42, was joined by her family, including the Prince of Wales, 42, and their children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six.
William and the royal children arrived after visiting the “kindness tree” by the abbey’s great west door and hung messages on its branches dedicated to someone who had supported them in their lives in keeping with the service’s theme of love and empathy.
They all arrived clutching their red tags and Louis’ could be seen with the handwritten words: “Thank you to granny and grandpa because they have played games with me.”
Image: William, Kate and their children sing along to the carols.
Pic: PA
Image: William and Kate by the Kindness tree with their children. Pic: Reuters
Kate was pictured welcoming her guests and talking to attendees, all 1,600 of whom received their invites as they had supported others in some way.
The princess, who has been hosting the Together at Christmas Carol service for the past four years, announced last monthshe had completed chemotherapy treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Image: Prince Louis with his mother, Kate. Pic: PA
Image: Prince William arrives for the service with Charlotte, George and Louis. Pic: Reuters
She has been gradually returning to public duties after revealing in March how after an operation tests had found cancer had been present and in September that she had finished chemotherapy treatment.
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In a health update in September, Kate said she had finished the treatment and her focus was to “stay cancer-free”.
During her interaction with Paloma Faith, one of tonight’s performers, the princess said: “I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had.”
She added: “But I think lots of people this year have had such challenging times, many who are here today.”
The princess then thanked the singer for agreeing to perform at the service and said: “I know as a mum it’s hard pulling yourself away, the juggling.”
Image: The Princess of Wales talks with Paloma Faith at Westminster Abbey. Pic: Reuters
Image: Kate with an attendee of the Together At Christmas event. Pic: Reuters
The princess then went on to share a sweet anecdote about her youngest child, Louis, who she said had been desperate to tell his sister about dancers performing during tonight’s event.
“I said ‘Louis can you keep a secret because I want it to be a surprise for Charlotte’, who loves her ballet, and he said ‘promise, promise I won’t say anything’, and he’s kept the secret.”
But as she did the school drop off this morning, Kate said he asked: “Mummy please can I tell her, I’m bursting.”
The princess added she hoped he managed to keep the secret.
Image: William and Kate with their children at the annual carol service. Pic: Reuters
In a message sent ahead of the service, Kate said Christmas is a moment of “celebration and joy” as well as an “opportunity to slow down and reflect on the deeper things that connect us all”.
She added: “Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year.”
In November, she joined other senior royals for Remembrance Day services, while in October she made a surprise visit to the families of the victims of the Southport attack.
Image: Kate with Gregory Porter, Olivia Dean and Paloma Faith. Pic: Reuters
In her letter to the carol-goers, Kate seemed to hint toward the struggles the Royal Family has faced over the past year, with the King also being diagnosed with cancer.
“Love is the light that can shine bright, even in our darkest times,” she wrote.
Singer Gregory Porter was also expected to perform during tonight’s event.
Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, will light a candle as will Lindsey Burrow, the wife of former Rugby League star Rob Burrow who died in June with motor neurone disease.
The event will be broadcast as part of the programme Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, screened on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve, and it will feature three films about the stories of people and organisations who have inspired, counselled and comforted others in their times of need.
Two men have been arrested after a customer was stabbed to death inside a Lloyds bank.
The victim – a man in his 30s – was attacked at the branch in St Peter’s Street, Derby, at around 2.35pm on Tuesday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, Derbyshire Police said.
A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of murder, while another man in his 30s is being held on suspicion of assisting an offender. Both remain in police custody.
They were detained around 6pm at the same property in Western Road, Normanton.
Detective Inspector Tony Owen said: “No one else was hurt and while the investigation is at an early stage, at this time we are treating it as an isolated incident.”
The victim has not yet been formally identified, but police said his family had been made aware.
“Good luck, because it’s a shithole here,” a prisoner shouts as we walk around the grounds at HMP Foston Hall.
Other inmates described this women’s prison in Derbyshire as a “holiday camp”, even “rehab”.
There was no one homogenous view, but there is also not one type of prisoner here – it is home to both murderers and shoplifters.
We’ve come to talk to people ahead of the publication of the sentencing review in the coming days. It’s likely to recommend the scrapping of short sentences for some lower-level crimes, and suggest prison isn’t the best place to punish certain “vulnerable” groups of offenders, including women.
“My kind of theft, I nick chocolate from shops,” inmate Connie Parsons told us as we gathered in her cell.
She’s been convicted of shoplifting nine times and says she’s been in and out of prison since she was 15 years old.
“I normally only get four weeks, three weeks, two weeks. It’s a constant cycle of going out, committing crime,” she said.
Image: Connie has a teenage son but hasn’t seen him for years
At points, Parsons has been homeless and addicted to drugs.
“I used to just come to prison before to have a little lie down and get myself well… to keep myself safe,” she said. “But this prison, you’re not safe… I never self-harmed before I came to this prison. And now I self-harm quite a lot.”
She has a young teenage son on the outside. “I know this might sound harsh, but I think it’s got to the point now I don’t know what to miss about him. But I think about him every single day,” she said.
‘For lots of women, prison is the right place to be’
We put Parsons’ case to the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, who said it was “really sad to hear”, adding he sees “lots of people like Connie” in the prison system.
Pressed on how some will view Parsons as a repeat offender, perhaps deserving of prison, Lord Timpson said: “For lots of women, prison is the right place to be, but where there are certain circumstances, for example non-violent offences for women… you need to work out what is the right path to make sure they don’t commit further crime.”
Lord Timpson said for someone like Parsons, he’d like to see the use of an intensive supervision court or as he called it “problem-solving court”. These work by judges monitoring the progress of offenders on community sentences, offering “wraparound” support, including housing, help for addiction issues and mental health.
Image: Tilat Ajmal served less than three months
Prisoner leaves with jail on her CV
“I had a job, I ain’t got a job now,” said Tilat Ajmal.
Before she went to prison, Ajmal worked for the NHS as a cleaner for 18 years.
As we filmed, she was leaving jail after serving less than three months for smuggling an item into prison while visiting someone. It was her first offence.
Her bags were packed, and in them was a CV she’d prepared. But she didn’t seem hopeful.
“I think it’s a bit bad having a conviction, I’ve been working all my life,” she said.
“As soon as coming out of them gates, I think you just have hundreds and thousands of things going through your head.”
‘Just enough time to rip their lives apart’
After we filmed at the prison, Sky News joined a support session at a women’s centre in Nottingham. It offers mandatory services to people serving sentences in the community, and also those on probation or licence periods.
I asked a case worker to explain why certain women offenders should be considered unique in the criminal justice system.
“I think what happens when a man goes to prison is that there is usually a woman holding everything together,” said Rachel Strong.
“He will be released from prison, his home will still be there, his family. He may have lost his job but there will be someone there. He will come out to his support network in place.
“That woman is that support network – so when she goes to prison, there’s nobody holding that together. People will lose their homes, sometimes their children are taken into care.
“Usually when women are sent to prison it’s for short sentences. Not enough time for anything productive, just enough time to rip their lives apart.”
Image: Donna Pritchards
‘It’s like rehab’
“I don’t mind prison, it’s like rehab,” said Donna Pritchards, who has been to HMP Foston Hall three times.
“I know you get clean when you’re here, and I needed it.”
Drugs are ‘main issue’ in prison
Others told us it was “easy” to get hold of drugs inside jail, with one prisoner describing some leading a “life of luxury”, with jail being like a “holiday camp”.
Amanda Brewer, drug strategy lead, told us: “Illicit drugs are our main issue day to day in everything that we do.
“They’re the main drivers for violence, they can cause self-harm issues, they cause vulnerability.”
Prisoners are also “trading” prescription drugs between one another.
‘Prison is not a nice place to be’
As the government explores greater use of alternatives to custody and scrapping certain short prison sentences, I asked the prisons minister whether criminals might see their approach as a “soft touch”.
“Prison is not a nice place to be,” said Lord Timpson, “but they need to turn their lives around there.”
The government commissioned the sentencing review alongside the creation of the Women’s Justice Board because they have an overcrowding crisis across the prison estate. But they also fundamentally believe prison isn’t the best form of punishment for certain types of offenders.
Women offenders in England and Wales are likely to be disproportionately impacted by the recommendations made in the review.
That’s because we expect it to suggest the scrapping of certain short sentences. In 2022, the Prison Reform Trust found over half (58%) of terms given to women were for less than six months.
Women are also considered by ministers to be a “vulnerable” group, with prison having a knock-on impact on their lives and potential for reoffending. Many report being a victim of crimes like domestic abuse, and 55% of female prisoners are mothers.
After two days of rare and unique access to different parts of the criminal justice system, it’s clear many feel prison isn’t working for female offenders. But what exactly a greater use of alternatives to custody looks like will take some time to figure out.
New portraits of the King and Queen, commissioned to commemorate their coronation in 2023, have been unveiled.
The two separate full-length paintings of Charlesand Camilla were made by artists Peter Kuhfeld and Paul Benny, respectively.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The artists were personally chosen by the King and Queen, who were joined at the unveiling by Camilla’s daughter Laura Lopes.
Mr Kuhfeld, who has known the monarch for more than 40 years, added he hopes his depiction of Charles captured both “the man and the King”.
Mr Benny also said about the Queen: “She said nothing but wonderful things about it, more importantly Laura liked it – you know when the kids like it, you’re probably on the right track.”
Image: Pics: PA
Their portraits will be hung in the National Gallery until 5 June, before moving to their permanent home in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room.