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After spending her first Christmas as a royal at the Queen's Sandringham estate, Kate Middleton went back to her roots, ringing in the New Year with husband Prince William in her hometown.

The royal pair reportedly celebrated 2012 at a party thrown by Middleton's sister Pippa at the Middleton family's Berkshire home. The 28-year-old event planner pitched a teepee-style tent, known as a kata, in the backyard, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.

The tent, which Pippa Middleton reportedly rented for the event, costs around $5,000, and has a dance floor and seating for 100 guests. A bystander described it to the Daily Mail as a "canvas palace." (Given the buzz around the all-things Middleton, don't be surprised to see a kata at your next gathering).

Pippa comes from a family of party planners, (parents Michael and Carole Middleton own the U.K. party supply company Party Pieces), and she will reportedly bring her expertise to print in a new book in 2012.

One A-list bachelor who was missing from the guest list: Prince Harry. William's younger brother was seen at a ski resort in Switzerland, partying with friends and cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, at a New Year's Eve bash.

For the royal newlyweds, spending the evening in a tent (albeit a pricey one) in the family backyard is very different than the formal affair Prince William and Middleton had been expected to attend with his father Prince Charles and Camilla at their country estate in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The rest of the royal bunch attended the traditional New Year's Day service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene at the Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. Prince Phillip, the queen's 90-year-old husband who had emergency surgery to repair a blocked coronary artery over Christmas, made an appearance and greeted bystanders who gathered to catch a glimpse of the royals, according to the Daily Mail.