How Princess Mary, Chris Hemsworth, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Barnes spent Christmas Day
The great Christmas homecoming has delivered a bumper crop of big names to town this week. Here’s how the celebs spent Christmas Day.
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The great holiday homecoming has delivered a bumper crop of big names to town this week. Here’s how some Australian A-listers spent Christmas Day.
NICOLE KIDMAN AND KEITH URBAN
Nicole Kidman made her annual pilgrimage home for Christmas, flying into Sydney with husband Keith Urban and their daughters Sunday Rose, 14, and Faith Margaret, 11, in tow.
The famous family headed straight to 82-year-old matriarch Janelle Kidman’s place, with bags of gifts.
While country singer hubby Urban has been busy crisscrossing the country for his national tour that wrapped in Melbourne, Kidman’s last visit to Australia was at the start of 2022.
During that visit, she revealed that her mother was unwell, explaining she was in Sydney at the time to “take care” of her and “surround her” with grandchildren.
In a recent interview, Urban expanded on the importance of spending the family holiday at home: “My mum just turned 80 and Nic’s mum – who knows how many Christmases we get with anybody ever but particularly with our mums – I really cherish that chance to spend Chrissy with them and our family in Oz,” he said.
Kidman also shared a snap of the family’s candy-cane themed Christmas tree with a simple message of holiday cheer to social media: “Wishing you and yours the loveliest of holidays!”
The couple has wasted no time in catching up with some of their oldest Sydney pals, including Catherine Martin, Troye Sivan and actor Joel Edgerton.
They gathered with some of Australia’s biggest names at the Icebergs last Tuesday to celebrate the appointment of Christine Centenera as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Australia magazine.
PRINCESS MARY AND DANISH ROYAL FAMILY
Sydneysiders hoping to spot a homegrown royal have missed the boat: Crown Princess Mary was photographed arriving from Sydney at Hobart Airport on Friday, greeted by her sister Jane.
The Australian-born Danish royal is back in Hobart with her husband Crown Prince Frederik, 54, and their children; daughter Isabella, 15, and twins Josephine and Vincent, 11, who blended in as they shopped in Bondi on Monday. Eldest son Christian, 17, is also in Australia, but was not pictured.
Posting a picture on the Danish royal family’s Instagram, Mary wrote: “Merry Christmas from “Down Under” – where we celebrate Christmas in Tasmania.
“Here it is neither frostbite nor just trees but summer and warm weather.”
The family had been enjoying the sun in Sydney for the past week.
The princess was seen frolicking in the waves at the exclusive Palm Beach north of Sydney, home to some of Australia’s most impressive mansions – and the filming location for Home And Away.
This came after she was spotted whipping her husband and Prince Vincent into shape on an early morning jog on Wednesday.
JIMMY BARNES
Jimmy Barnes has described the Christmas gift that still makes him emotional, while spending his Chrissy morning hosting Triple M’s radio show.
Back in 1987, the 66-year-old’s children surprised him by making a recording that would become the prototype for their 1990 kids album The Tin Lids.
Barnes says his family prefers to make presents for each other, rather than buying gifts.
“One year I remember unbeknownst to me my children snuck down to the garage and they did a medley of Christmas carols and it was so beautiful,” he said.
“The kids came up and handed me this recording and I put it on and it broke me down in tears, it was so gorgeous. And I’ve still got it in my computer to this day, 35 years later, it’s like a little window back into their childhoods, it still has the same effect on me.”
The Aussie rocker shared some cheerful snaps to Twitter overnight, showing he’s spending the remainder of the day relaxing with family, as he recovers from a gruelling back and hip surgery.
“There’s no place like home. Legs are recovering in a room with a view,” he captioned photos in front of the Christmas tree with his grandchildren, as well as one of him resting up with his feet elevated.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH AND ELSA PATAKY
It’s Chris-mas in the Hemsworth household, and the Thor actor is spreading some cheer on social media with a rare home video from Byron Bay.
The 39-year-old shared some of the questionable tactics he uses to put the final touches on the family’s towering Christmas tree.
“Last year we tried this but with me on Elsa’s shoulders … nor the tree or @elsapataky’s knees made it. After 12 months of preparation we finally figured it out. A star is born!!” he wrote.
With his three children as witnesses to their risky tradition, and some much-needed encouragement, Hemsworth’s wife, Elsa, climbed onto the actor’s shoulders and successfully placed the star atop the tree, after which Chris yelled, “My spine!”
Fans bombarded the comment section, with the top liked comment being: “When your wife asks you to bring the ladder, but you are God of Thunder.”
Ryan Gosling has been in Sydney with his family while filming his new movie, The Fall Guy.
But the Hollywood actor, 42, packed up his brood and headed home to America for the Christmas holidays.
The Drive star and his partner Eva Mendes, 48, boarded a plane out of Sydney last week, with daughters Esmeralda, 8, and Amada, 6, who she’s said have picked up “little Aussie twangs”.
This comes after Mendes told 9Honey that she’s struggled to manage homeschooling her kids without her usual support network.
“I definitely haven’t figured out a balance yet. It’s kind of a day-to-day thing. I ask people for advice all the time,’ she said.
“I would like to be a bit more balanced, but right now, especially now that we’re living in Sydney, I notice things like, I don’t have my sister here, I don’t have [Ryan’s] sister, I don’t have his mum, I don’t have my mum, so the work is falling on us completely.
“It’s definitely a bit more stressful, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘Look, we’re here, we’re making some really fun memories.’”
The couple had reportedly rented Elvis director Baz Luhrmann’s $16 million Darlinghurst property, before moving elsewhere.
“Whatever you celebrate or don’t celebrate, if you’re with friends and family or flying solo, I’m sending you loads of love during this time. I know how hard it can be for some.
Don’t let Instagram trick you -we’re all dealing with our own sh*t. Some more extreme, of course, but we’re all in this madness together,” Mendes captioned a selfie posted to Instagram on the 25th.
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