Does Kate Middleton & Prince William’s Christmas Card Mean Their New Baby Is A Boy?

The holiday season is often called the most wonderful time of the year, and after the royal family's adorable 2017 Christmas card was released on Monday, it's easy to understand why. And now, some people think Kate Middleton is having a boy since the family is all dressed in blue in the photo they chose. But as awesome as it would have been for her to break the news about the sex of her baby that way, was that really the goal of the family's card this year?

Even though this photo is new to fans of the royal family, it wasn't taken recently. It seems that Getty Images photographer Chris Jackson snapped the pic on Prince George's birthday, and the family liked it so much they decided to use it (much like another one of Jackson's photos, which made the cut for last year's card). Since George turned four in July, that makes the photo more than five months old, so it seems pretty impossible that the royal family would have taken it to celebrate the addition of another son.

In fact, it seems like William and Middleton probably just chose this photo because they liked it, and it makes sense — it's gorgeous.

However, even knowing that the photo isn't new isn't stopping fans from speculating about it also serving as a gender reveal. After the photo was posted on Kensington Palace's official Twitter fans have taken to replying to the tweet, guessing that the photo means Middleton is having a boy.

Others elected to share their thoughts in the comments on Kensington Palace's Instagram post with the photo, and aside from people remarking that the photo isn't very Christmas-y, a lot of them were taking the blue as a major hint that a boy is on the way.

It's safe to say that there's no way this photo is Middleton and William's way of revealing that they're expecting a baby boy. Since Kate is due in April and the photo was taken in July, that would have meant that she may not have even known that she was pregnant at that point, let alone what the sex of her baby is. So they definitely didn't take the picture as a gender reveal, and with five months left in Middleton's pregnancy, there's plenty of time for her to announce her baby's sex if she chooses to do so.

Besides, blue is a color the family tends to wear quite often; in fact, in the photo for last year's Christmas card, the entire family (minus Middleton) were all decked out in the same color, too, with no baby born that year. As fun a way as it would have been to announce the big news, it's just not happening. Can these people just like the color blue in peace?

Of course, there's the slim chance that Middleton and William chose a photo where the entire family was dressed in blue to hint that they're having a boy, but since the royal family doesn't tend to reveal information through clues like that, it doesn't seem plausible. This is probably just a photo they really liked of their whole family together, so enjoying it at face value is the best bet.

Even though this photo isn't offering any new information about their third child, it's beautiful nonetheless — and all will be revealed in time. We'll probably have to wait until Middleton's baby arrives next spring to find out if George and Charlotte are getting a little brother or a little sister, but it will certainly be worth the wait.