Royals Break the Rules?

Kate Middleton and Prince William are being accused of breaking the U.K.’s newly stringent lockdown rules amid an outbreak of a more contagious strain of COVID. William himself, as many will recall, contracted COVID in the spring, but no one else in his immediate family did.

The pair were photographed walking with their children— Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—along with Prince Edward and Sophie and their children— Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn. They were seen at the Luminate attraction, an illuminated woodland trail, on the Queen‘s Sandringham Estate. The party of 9 exceeded the rule of people from different households mixing in groups larger than 6.

But a source tells The Daily Mail that while they arrived and left separately, the outing was planned: “The two families were given separate consecutive slots to visit the trail just before it opened to the general public.”

“They were clearly breaking Covid rules, in my opinion, because there were nine of them from two separate households. They were obviously all having a fun evening out. You could tell that the royal youngsters were having a great time,” a fellow visitor to the attraction told the Daily Mail. “But I couldn’t help thinking that it was one rule for them and another for the rest of us. It was really quite blatant.”