Prince Louis dressed shorts on Christmas Day when George was in trousers

• Prince Louis made his official royal debut on Christmas Day at St Mary Magdalene Church.
• He was dressed in shorts, unlike his older brother George, who wore trousers.
• Etiquette expert says royal boys wear shorts until they are eight, then they wear trousers.

When Prince Louis joined his older brothers and the rest of the royal family at their customary Christmas Day church service, he appeared unusually shy. Little Louis made his holiday debut, walking inside St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham with his adoring parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

However, several fans were perplexed as to why the four-year-old was dressed in shorts in the freezing December temperatures, especially while his older brother George was dressed in trousers.

It turns out that William and Kate’s dress was inspired by a centuries-old upper-class tradition.

Etiquette expert William Hanson previously told Harper’s Bazaar that royal boys wear shorts to formal gatherings until they are eight years old. “Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on little boys are one of those quiet class markers that we have in England,” he explains.

“Although times are (slowly) changing, a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class – quite suburban.

“And no self-respecting aristo or royal would want to be considered suburban.”

Louis isn’t the only one, as most royal men used to wear shorts. George wore them to almost every royal engagement for the first several years of his life, but now that he’s nine, he’s been promoted to trousers.

As they negotiated their first festive season without the late Queen, King Charles led his family into the church.

In addition to the Wales family, he was joined by Queen Camilla, Zara and Mike Tindall, Edward and Sophie Wessex with Lady Louise Windsor, James, Viscount Severn, and Princess Beatrice, her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and their baby Wolfie.

Disgraced Prince Andrew, together with his youngest daughter Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, made a surprise appearance at the religious occasion.

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