It's the most wonderful time of the year for royal fans, the time when each royal family releases their Christmas cards. The card released this week by Prince William and Kate Middleton, taken during an unscheduled vacation in Jordan earlier this year, shows them with their three children, Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3. [Prince Charles' card, however, is the opposite of that image. The photo released by the heir to the British throne and his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles is completely unstaged and can only be released in 2021.

In the image, Charles and Camilla are dressed in formal attire for Royal Ascot, a horse racing event held every June that is one of the highlights of the year for the British upper class. What makes this photo symbolically 2021 is that both the Prince and the Duchess are wearing masks. In fact, neither royal is looking at the camera in this shot, and Charles is helping Camilla put on a cream polka-dot mask that coordinates with her dress.

"Clarence House is delighted to be able to publish the photograph chosen by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall for this year's Christmas card," Clarence House said in a statement.

Royal Week at Ascot Racecourse has been a tradition since 1911, when royalty and Britain's upper classes travel to the racetrack near Windsor Castle for five days of horse racing. in 2020, racing was closed to the public, but resumed in 2021. according to People magazine, "Ascot was then, strongly encouraged participants to wear face covers and masks when traveling around the venue."

As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle told Oprah in an interview in March, the choice of non-traditional photos is not entirely unexpected in a year when long-standing traditions have been broken significantly. These unposed photos send a clear message about safety concerns and coveted protocols, and are a casual way for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to acknowledge the changing climate while upholding one of their most beloved royal traditions.

The picture also has much in common with the Christmas cards the Prince and Princess have chosen in the past. Typically, the Cambridges release posed photos from their photo shoots for their cards each year, but Prince Charles and Camilla often choose less staged options. Last year's Christmas card photo was taken in the couple's garden at Birkhall, their Scottish estate. In that shot, Camilla is smiling at the camera in jeans, while Prince Charles gazes at his wife in khakis and an open-collared shirt.

The prince's 2019 card features a photo of Charles and Camilla on a royal tour of Cuba, with Charles driving a vintage convertible MG and Camilla waving to onlookers.