What Kate can expect at a royal Christmas celebration
(CBS/AP) LONDON - The former Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge, will be marking her first Christmas as a member of Britain's royal family.
And while it will be a traditional Christmas weekend for Queen Elizabeth II's extended family, it will be an entirely new experience for the duchess, who married the queen's grandson Prince William in an elaborate Westminster Abbey ceremony on April 29.
Here's what the newest Britsh royal can expect this weekend at Sandringham, the queen's sprawling estate in rural Norfolk.
Pictures: Kate's royal outfits
Read more: Largest royal celebration in years
Most of the holiday celebration will be private. The exception is attendance at a Sunday morning Christmas service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the estate grounds, announced Friday by palace officials.
This gives well-wishers a chance to see the royals briefly, and also provides photographers a chance to snap pictures of the queen and Kate.
After the church service, the royals usually walk on the grounds, have a gala lunch, and gather to watch the queen's prerecorded television broadcast, a tradition that began with a radio address by King George V in 1932.
Christmas gifts are exchanged and a black-tie holiday dinner is held at Sandringham on Christmas Eve.
On Boxing Day, as the day after Christmas is known in the U.K., there will be a pheasant shoot on estate grounds, an annual event organized by the queen's husband Prince Phillip.
The 27 weekend guests will begin arriving today. They include Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Kate, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Phillips and new husband Mike Tindall, Princess Anne and Commander Tim Laurence and Prince Edward and his wife, the Countess of Wessex.
This will also be the first royal Christmas for Tindall, a rugby star who married the queen's granddaughterZara Phillips this summer.
According to published reports in Britain, Kate confided in a guest at The Sun's Millies awards earlier this week that she will need five changes of clothing for Christmas day events.