Kate Middleton and Prince William mark their 1st New Year in a reindeer herder’s tent

By
Ian Gallagher

Last updated at 11:52 AM on 1st January 2012

Prince William and Kate marked their first New Year as man and wife with the Middletons – in a tent traditionally used by reindeer herders in Lapland.

Their teepee-style ‘kata’ was hired from an upmarket events firm by Kate’s sister Pippa for a party she hosted in her parents’ back garden in Berkshire.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been expected to celebrate New Year with Prince Charles and Camilla in Scotland, but were spotted earlier in the day playing with Kate’s parents’ dogs in their garden.

Ready to party: Prince William and Catherine are pictured on his 26th birthday in a Boujis nightclub tent

Ready to party: Prince William and Catherine are pictured on his 26th birthday in a Boujis nightclub tent

Royal coup: Party planner Pippa has organised the extravagant party to welcome in 2012

Royal coup: Party planner Pippa has organised the extravagant party to welcome in 2012

According to a villager, Kate and William, who was wearing a flat cap and green Barbour jacket, were laughing and joking, and ‘looked full of the joys of the season’.

The kata, made of animal hides with an opening at the top to let out smoke, is used in Lapland by the semi-nomadic Sami people for cooking, smoking fish and as a shelter from heavy snow.

Modern man-made versions are becoming increasingly popular in Britain and are often used for weddings.

Party planner Pippa’s chosen kata, which cost about £3,000 to hire and was pitched in the grounds of Michael and Carole Middleton’s home in the village of Bucklebury, was described as a ‘canvas palace’ and included a dance floor, lighting and seating for more than 100 people.

The setting was a far cry from Birkhall in Aberdeenshire, the private residence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, where Kate’s parents had also been expected to see in the New Year with a formal dinner and ceilidh.

The party provided Kate, 29, with an opportunity to let her hair down after her first Christmas with the Royals at Sandringham, the Queen’s country retreat.

She had admitted to being nervous about the occasion and revealed she would have to change outfits five times on Christmas Day alone.

Pippa, 28, who works for London-based events company Table Talk, recently signed a deal to write a guide to being the perfect party hostess following a fierce bidding war.

Although they split in November, her boyfriend of three years, Alex Loudon, 31, was expected at the party as the couple remain good friends.

One notable absentee was Prince Harry, who was celebrating in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier at his close friend Guy Pelly’s new nightclub, Public, which opened on December 1.

A source said: ‘Prince Harry went to the club on Thursday night as well and was drinking champagne and vodka. ‘There’s a photo booth in the club and you can pay five francs to have your picture taken.

‘Someone lent him five francs because he wanted his picture taken and then other people were asking too apparently.’

It
has been a significant year for the Royal Family, with two weddings, a
historic visit to Ireland by the Queen and Prince Philip being taken to
hospital for heart surgery.

Ending 2011 in a teepee-style tent: The Royal pair will join the Middletons for the party in their back garden in Bucklebury

Ending 2011 in a teepee-style tent: The Royal pair will join the Middletons for the party in their back garden in Bucklebury

Lavish: Despite the tent structure, the inside was described as a 'canvas palace'

Lavish: Despite the tent structure, the inside was described as a ‘canvas palace’

The Duke of Edinburgh was due to see in the New Year with the Queen at Sandringham.

Meanwhile, the most expensive New Year party in the world was thrown by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich on his estate on the island of St Barts in the Caribbean.

It was said to have cost £5 million, with music reportedly provided by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Guests, who were told to wear ‘island chic’ for the party, were due to retire to a fleet of super-yachts at the end of the evening.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

ROFLMAO!!!! Not content with always puting a price of the value of any house they mention, this paper now gives the prices of teepees!!! Whatever next???? 🙂

Leeches in a Lapa.

Pippa’s party would be much more fun, let’s face it than with the PoW and his 2nd wife…………….let’s hope that William takes his own path now he has his own “family”

Good to see they are with the Middletons who have a stable home live and her parents live in the same house If Kate needs any advise her mother is the one to ask Long Live the Queen

Nicely done , threw all paps off the scent and had good bash. Still bet that Pippa was crying inside a little at midnight and she will be glad to move the year on . 2011 in many ways has been tougher on her than Kate but 2012 has more excitement in the Royal Soap drama. Happy new year to all DM contributers and lets try to make all our comments informative ,considered and as positive as can be from now on. Thats one of my resolutions along with to try to be funnier. Failed already.

Bill, Billericay has the honour of topping the “worst rated” this morning, with, as I write this, 85 red arrows. I read through what he had written with interest, to see what caused such dislike and all he said was that Kate seemed to get her own way. The more I think about it, the more I think this is possibly correct – whatever she set her mind on, she got, in the end – so why all the red arrows for the comment..?

A very good thing that Kate and William spent time with her family. Diana got trashed by the royal family – mainly Charles and the mistress obviously. It seems William is determined to make sure Kate has his love and support and the love and support of her family too. I bet William is also well aware that Queen-Tampax-in-waiting is no friend of his or Kate’s. He and Kate couldn’t avoid her at Christmas but they escaped at New Year. Good for them!

So the Middletons upstaged the traditional royals, did they? Why is it I’m not really surprised?

LOL! Can the writer explain? Before the tents were “man-made”, who made them? The reindeer?

I thought all kids did their own thing at new year, they go to family do’s over christmas. I bet nobody minded or expected anything else. Happy New Year.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes