As the Royal Family approach the end of their 2025 annus horribilis there will be a fair few mutters of “Phew! Thank heaven that’s over!” Sweat will have also dried from the Firm’s collective brows as each title and honour were peeled from the scandalous shell that now is ‘Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor‘. 

And there would have been a happy ‘sigh’ as both Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie sensibly avoided their shamed father at Royal Lodge, in Windsor, for a unified Yuletide in Norfolk with the rest of the royals. The princesses joined the iconic Christmas Day walk through the private estate at Sandringham, to St Mary Magdalene church, led by the King and Queen, with the Prince and Princess of Wales close behind.

But that short walk, surrounded by cheering, thrilled royal watchers and the world’s media, also gave us a glimmer of hope and joy for 2026 – and the prospect of rosier years ahead for the family.

Walking side-by-side with a wrapped-up William and Catherine were their beaming children Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and teddy bear-carrying Prince Louis, aged seven.

Dapper George looked smart in a navy overcoat and crisp white shirt, a look matched by his cheeky younger brother, while Charlotte – in a light beige coat dress – exchanged grins with her proud mother.

And William and Catherine have a real reason to be proud of their trio, as they are just as much the bright future of the monarchy as they are refreshingly natural on the world stage.

With years before they become ‘working royals’ – if indeed they all do – it may seem ludicrous to be discussing them as though they are adults.

But their sheer presence reinforces the hope of happier decades ahead on the distant horizon for the embattled Royal Family.

Their innocent thrill at meeting the public, their beaming smiles and clear ethic of duty and service contrast so starkly with the desperate cash-grab image the Sussexes sadly ooze by the bucket-load in the States.

Before Christmas, while Prince Harry was making an idiot of himself on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – joking that the Americans have “elected a king” in Trump (snigger, guffaw!) – Prince George visited the same homelessness shelter that Princess Diana took Prince William to at a similar age.

The impressive 12 year-old looked totally unfazed as he donned ‘The Passage’ charity’s aprons to lay Yorkshire puddings out onto a tray ahead of cooking.

In a video posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales’s YouTube account, George was then seen chatting to attendees, decorating a Christmas tree, and helping to lay the table. 

All three young Waleses appear adorable, cheeky, intelligent and showered with love from their parents.

But above all the trio seem both very human and humane in how they show their individual characters, all the while under the judging glare of the public and the press.

True, they must be given space to live their lives as children, attend their schools, universities and early careers with privacy. And yes, we should not assume or impose that all three will aspire to roles as working royals.

But they could also be the Biblical ‘cleansing wave’ that in time can wash clean the lingering stain of Andrew and Fergie – and erode the millstone of Jeffrey Epstein’s memory that still weighs heavily on the Royal Family’s neck.