Kate Middleton and Prince William Share Poignant Christmas Card with George, Charlotte and Louis After ‘Hardest’ Year

“I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had…the unplanned,” the Princess of Wales recently admitted

Prince Louis, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte and Prince George in a video issued on Sept. 9, 2024. Photo: Will Warr

Kate Middleton and Prince William have unveiled their Christmas wishes after a year unlike any other for their family.

On Dec. 19, the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, shared their 2024 holiday card, featuring a frame from the video Princess Kate issued on Sept. 9 to announce that she completed chemotherapy treatment. The photo showed Princess Kate and Prince William sitting with their kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, with their arms interlinked. The picture was familiar from the video filmed by Will Warr in August in Norfolk, where the family has a country home and where they currently are for Christmas.

“Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year,” read a message in the card, which was shared in a video to the couple’s social channels. The card was placed on a table in the quick clip, with a twinkling tree behind and faux snow falling before it.

The choice to send a previously seen family photo marked a departure from recent years, as Prince William and Princess Kate are known to share brand-new pictures for their Christmas cards.

The Prince and Princess of Wales most recently stepped out with their children at Princess Kate’s Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 6 in what marked the kids’ first public appearance in six months.

“It’s been such a difficult year for them, it’s wonderful to see them all together,” Sophie Mirman, founder and creative director of Trotters, the brand behind Princess Charlotte’s burgundy coat, tells PEOPLE of the united front.

Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Kate Middleton at the Together at Christmas carol service on Dec. 6, 2024.Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty

While it’s not unusual to see the royal children infrequently — Prince William and Princess Kate are committed to giving their kids as normal of a childhood as possible, which means less time in the spotlight — it also marked one of Kate’s few public events during the year that she announced she was receiving treatment for cancer.

Kensington Palace said in January that Princess Kate had had “planned abdominal surgery” and would temporarily reduce her duties in line with medical advice. The princess shared in March that she learned after the surgery that she had cancer and had started chemotherapy treatment. Princess Kate was outside of the limelight for almost the entirety of 2024 to prioritize her health and announced on Sept. 9 with “relief” that she had completed chemo.

The Together at Christmas carol service was Princess Kate’s most major event after announcing that she completed chemo, and she shed light on her life in a remarkably personal comment to a performer there.

Kate Middleton speaks to Paloma Faith and Olivia Dean at the Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey on Dec. 6, 2024.ISABEL INFANTES/POOL/AFP via Getty

“I didn’t know this year was going to be the year that I’ve just had…the unplanned,” the Princess of Wales said on Dec. 6. “But I think lots of people this year have had such challenging times, and many who are here today.”

Friends and sources say that Princess Kate’s experience has reframed her focus, both at home and in her approach to royal duties.

“She is very much in control of her return to public life. She is doing what works best for her,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE.

Adds a source close to the royal household: “Life-threatening illnesses bring a reconsideration of priorities. She and William have always made it clear that family is the most important thing.”

(From left) Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Kate Middleton at the Together at Christmas concert on Dec. 6, 2024.Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty

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Next week, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are expected to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham with King Charles. It will be an especially poignant holiday as the King continues to undergo treatment for cancer amid what Prince William has called a “brutal” year from a “personal family point of view.”

There, they’ll participate in annual Christmas festivities and hopefully join in the traditional walk to and from church.

The Wales family didn’t go to King Charles’ Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace on Dec. 19, but PEOPLE understands that Prince William and Princess Kate are looking forward to catching up with loved ones on Christmas at Sandringham as usual.