Katie Price’s year of public frustration — from being blocked from appearing on daughter Princess’s reality show to being excluded from the teen’s 18th birthday — seemed to confirm what many believed: her relationship with her older children was slipping further out of reach. Her anger only intensified knowing Peter Andre attended the party with his wife Emily, a long-time rival whom Katie has often clashed with.

But behind the scenes, an even more distressing storm was brewing. Just weeks before, Kieran Hayler — her ex-husband and father of her two youngest children — had been arrested and formally charged with raping a 13-year-old girl. The case sent shockwaves through her already fragile family dynamic.

And yet, out of the turmoil has emerged a rare moment of hope. For the first time in three years, Katie’s two youngest children are living with her again in her newly rented home — a reunion she describes to friends as nothing short of life-changing.

According to insiders, there is one iron-clad condition that has made this possible: Katie has vowed not to post the children on social media or involve them in public content. One friend says she is “elated” but understands the rules this time must be followed.

“Katie is thrilled to have them back living with her full-time,” a source explains. “She’s promised she won’t share photos of them online. She wants to do what’s best for them, and if keeping their home life private is part of that, then she’ll do it.”

Another adds that those closest to her have been blunt: “She’s been told very firmly she cannot publicise them. They need privacy — and that’s something Katie finds incredibly hard.”

Still, Katie appears determined to prove she can create stability. One friend says she is “desperate to make this Christmas special,” focusing entirely on giving her children “a sense of normality they’ve been missing.”

For years, Katie has lived with what she called an “empty nest,” with Princess and Junior spending most of their time with their father, Peter Andre. Meanwhile, her contact with her younger children had been tightly restricted due to a restraining order taken out by Hayler’s partner, Michelle Penticost. Katie pleaded guilty to breaching that order in March and narrowly avoided jail, instead receiving an 18-month community sentence and 170 hours of unpaid work.

In her Channel 4 documentary Katie Price: Trauma And Me, she said losing daily contact with her younger children was “the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with.” She admitted: “Recent events have meant I’m seeing my youngest children less and the relationship between me and their father has broken down. It’s not good for my mental health and it’s certainly not good for their mental health.”

“They should be having their mum in their life. At the moment I’m stuck in this rut… It’s heartbreaking and I just wish it wasn’t like this.”

Despite Katie’s joy at their return, people close to the family quietly acknowledge concern for the children, who have grown up amid parental fallouts, constant instability, and now a deeply serious criminal case involving their father.

“Katie is wild — and then their dad gets arrested,” one associate says. “Those poor children have been through a lot. Their parents split, they’ve seen their mother date different men. She loves a night out. She goes on holiday. She lives a chaotic life.”

But many hope this unexpected reunion will be the turning point she needs. “Hopefully this is what calms her down,” the associate adds. “They need their mum — but they also need peace, privacy, and stability.”

And privacy, of course, is the one thing Katie Price has always struggled to keep.