The Royal Family

12 Christmas Traditions Of The British Royals That You Didn’t Know

 

“Make-Do” Sleeping arrangement

Make-Do Sleeping arrangement

For what might seem giant for us normal people, the royals consider the Sandringham house small, when compared to other royal residences, so when there is a bigger number of guests, they have no choice but to sleep in the staff quarters. The guest list used to include wider family members of the Queen such as nieces and nephews, but now, with the Queens grandchildren having families of their own, the festivities have been shortened to just direct offspring- with the maximum number of guest that can be seated at the Christmas lunch being 24 adults, while children are seated in the nursery. Other guests, like the Middletons, can be invited for the annual Boxing Day shoot.

When Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were young and their parents were divorced, their mother, Sarah Ferguson, would stay in Wood farm (a cottage on the estate) just so she could see them on Christmas Day. The Queen also hosts a family lunch at Buckingham Palace earlier in December, where the number of guests is around 50, with the reason of trying to include every family member in the holiday gatherings.

 

Two Church Services in Three Hours

Two Church Services in Three Hours

The family get up early on Christmas Day and gather for breakfast before leaving the house at 9 a.m. for the service at the church of St Mary Magdalene. The first service is only for the royal family- so the Queen can take a communion – and has a more relaxed dress code than the later public service. After returning to the house, they change outfits, and the family is off to attend a public service at 11 a.m. You might imagine singing carols with William and Kate, but that is hardly the case, as all local churchgoers who want to attend the Christmas Day service need to pass security checks in the Fall.

The whole family walks to the church, except for the Queen, who is driven. Her companion is usually her daughter-in-law Sophie, Countess of Wessex, but in 2013, it was her granddaughter, Zara Tindall, who was pregnant at the time with her daughter Mia. Will Prince George be the one who gets to accompany his great-grandmother to church this year? Maybe not. William and Harry attended their first church service at the age of 5.

 

 French Menus and Monogrammed Crystal

Parlez-vous francais? Either a state banquet or a family occasion, the Queen’s menus have always been written in French, and the Christmas Event is no exception. The family sits down to lunch in the Red Drawing Room- which actually, is painted a green-for turkey, sausage wrapped bacon, brussels sprouts with chestnuts and root vegetables. They eat from blue and white Copeland dinner service and drink from crystal stemware engraved with “EllR.”

 

Movie Night in the Ballroom

Movie Night in the Ballroom

After the public church services and dress-coded sit down meals have all finished, the royal family gather to watch a movie, just like us normal families(With way more swords and knives on display all over the room) The ballroom at Sandringham is often for more formal occasions, but it has been fitted with a screen on the walls which can be pulled down and a movie can be projected onto it. It also that the room is full of bladed weapons that were gifted to Queen Victoria’s son Edward during his tour of India and the Far East.

 

 Celebrating until February.

Celebrating Until February

Most guests leave on Boxing Day to see other family members-Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, will leave to spend time with her children and grandchildren, while William and Kate will take time to celebrate with the Middletons-but the Queen and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, will stay at the estate until the second week of February, and so will the decorations. Elizabeth stays on to honor her father, who passed away at Sandringham on the 6th February 1952.

 

Some Rules Are Meant to be Broken

Some Rules Are Meant to be Broken

Twenty years ago, close family members were not allowed to spend Christmas outside of Sandringham, so Princess Diana never celebrated that day with her family after her marriage to Prince Charles. However, it seems like times are changing, as William and Kate will be altering Christmases on each side of the family every year. Their first Christmas as a married couple in 2011 they spent in Sandringham, but the following year they spent Christmas with the Kates family in Berkshire. At the time Kate was pregnant with Prince George. In 2014, they’ve further changed things up, with attending the church service with the rest of the family, but later on, they had lunch with Kates family at their own home in Anmer Hall. William and Kate are due firmly back in the royal fold for Princess Charlotte’s first Christmas this year

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *