The Way The Royal Family Celebrates Mother's Day Isn't As Different As You Think

They've just had some big news with the birth of a new baby, and a younger generation of Windsors means there will be a direct family member for some time to come on the throne of England. It's all thanks to the palace moms, of course, from Kate to Meghan. So how do the royals celebrate Mother's Day? Not as differently as you might think.

As London's Express newspaper reported, Mother's Day in the U.K. is always the fourth weekend of Lent (which was March 31 this year). But while the date may a bit different than our fixed May celebration in the United States, the concept sounds about the same.

The newspaper mentioned moms in the island nation getting some pampering, like a spa date or a manicure (and since people are usually the same wherever you go, my bet is that British dads also don't know how to plan something simple, like brunch, duh), and apparently, Queen Elizabeth traditionally receives flowers from her clan, whom she enjoys catching up with on this holiday devoted to the role of the matriarch.

The Express added that the Queen has shared pictures of everyone gathering on the occasion, and in 2014 Prince William released pics on the big day featuring Kate with a tiny Prince George.

A separate Express story noted Princess Kate juggles spending time with the royal family and getting to honor her own mum, Carole Middleton, at her home in Berkshire.

So basically, in the U.K., on Mother's Day, people gather, eat too much (not that we can imagine Elizabeth II pigging out), exchange small gifts like flowers, pose for some photos, and stress out about making sure they've covered all sides of the family?! So much for cultural differences!

However, it sounds like there is one key separation between Mother's Day there and here: "Mothering Sunday," as it is known, is tied to church activities in the British Isles, vs. our nondenominational version, as Britain's Sun newspaper detailed.

The original idea of Mothering Sunday was visiting your "mother" church but the paper added that in today's Britain, it has evolved to much the same card-and-flowers appreciation of the maternal figures in your life that we understand.

What does this have to do with the royals? Being traditional, they still generally are found in church on that day, the Express noted.

Of course, as Refinery 29 pointed out, the Duchess of Sussex, the clan's newest mother, is also American.

So that must mean that this coming weekend's celebration Stateside will not be entirely forgotten among the Windsors (or certainly at Frogmore Cottage, where Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan live, on the grounds of Windsor Castle outside London, as Town & Country clarified).

There, as far as anyone knows, Meghan will still be nesting with Baby Archie on Sunday, with her equally-American mom, Doria Ragland. As Hello! magazine confirmed, this (U.S.) Mother's Day is clearly a super-special day for the new little family. Meghan's first Mother's Day, plus Doria's first Mother's Day as a grandma.

So Happy Mother's Day (and belated Mothering Sunday wishes) to the growing royal family. Maybe there's slightly better food, or an extra servant or two to bring it to the table, but their traditions on important days like the one where we honor mom's contribution sound pretty much the same.