The Times reported right after the documentary aired that Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex would be taking six weeks off starting in mid-November. Well now a spokesperson is confirming the break, and confirming that the Sussexes will skip Christmas at Sandringham with The Queen.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are looking forward to extended family time towards the end of this month.

Having spent the last two Christmases at Sandringham, Their Royal Highnesses will spend the holiday this year, as a new family, with the Duchess’ mother Doria Ragland.

This decision is in line with precedent set previously by other members of the Royal Family, and has the support of Her Majesty The Queen.

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“This decision is in line with precedent set previously by other members of the Royal Family” is in reference to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spending Christmas with the Middleton family in 2012 and 2016.

While the photos of the Cambridge kids going to church in 2016 were cute, William and Kate got a fair bit of heat for ditching The Queen on Christmas, especially because HM was quite ill and had to miss the church service for the first time in 30 years. I find it quite interesting that Harry and Meghan are making choices that people previously criticized William and Kate for, but that’s a topic for another article.

The fact that HM was so sick, and William and Kate weren’t around, brought to the fore the prospect of HM and Philip’s last Christmases. They are in their 90s so we really don’t know how many more Christmases they will have.

From a purely sentimental side, while I can understand not wanting to do Christmas with the royals (the wardrobe changes are a abundant, apparently), I don’t think it’s a great decision to skip Christmas with 90-year-old grandparents. I thought it was a mistake when William and Kate did it, and I think it’s a mistake now.