When it comes to Christmas, it is extraordinary how many of our traditions we owe to the country’s monarchs and their enthusiasm (and how different Christmas might look without them!) Back in the 9th century, it was King Alfred the Great who declared that the Twelve Days of Christmas were a time when no work should be done. In the 17th century, King Charles II restored Christmas following Oliver Cromwell’s festivity-banning protectorate. The Christmas tree was introduced in 1800 by Queen Charlotte, who was of German origin, and set one up for a children’s party at Windsor – and that custom went mainstream in 1848 when an engraving of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children around theirs was published in the Illustrated London News. It was also Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who popularised Christmas pudding, the sending of Christmas cards, and the exchanging of presents - albeit on Christmas Eve (Prince Albert, too, was German.)
It’s why it’s worth studying - by way of the books, films, and television series at our disposal - exactly how our Royal Family celebrate Christmas now. Perhaps they’ve got charming ideas that we hadn’t thought of, or even solutions to problems? True, they’re unlikely to struggle with issues of too many people and too little space, and it’s vital to remember that they have staff (no one is suggesting attempting to fully emulate a royal Christmas – that way madness lies.) But they’ve got familiar challenges of presents to find for people who, feasibly, already have everything - and with that, some well-reported family tensions. (To be clear, for the purposes of this piece we’ll be focussing on British-based royals – the Duchess of Sussex having already, via Netflix, provided helpful insight into hers and Prince Harry’s Californian revelries.)
Decorating and dispatching
It begins in November. Appropriately, given their entwined history, the royals go in for multiple Christmas trees, ensuring that every palace or castle has several, each locally sourced (King Charles, as we know, is keen on sustainability). They’re dressed pretty traditionally in hues of red, green and gold, while festive garlands adorn staircases and windowsills, made of a mixture of reusable and real foliage (from the palace gardens), studded with berries and tied with velvet ribbons. Christmas trees are also given, by the King, to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, St. Giles’ Cathedral and the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, and to churches and schools around Sandringham in Norfolk.
Christmas cards, too, are sent out, usually in the second week of December. In King Charles and Queen Camilla’s case, over 2500 of them, each hand-signed, to Heads of State, foreign diplomats, Commonwealth governors, members of their Royal Household – who get a Christmas pudding with theirs - various organisations, and, of course, family and friends. This year’s shows them smiling in a garden – arguably, not terribly Christmassy – but the custom of using a portrait dates to 1914 when King George V and Queen Mary sent photographs of themselves to British troops as a morale-booster, the message inside reading ‘With our best wishes for Christmas. May God protect you and bring you home safe.’ Incidentally, for those who wish to, and have not already sent their cards, it’s not too late: you can upload a photo and desired addresses to Moonpig, and they’ll post them today. (Though we should probably mention that Moonpig don’t have a royal warrant – yet.)
Pre-Christmas dates
Alongside these preparations are a succession of calendar dates, one of the earliest being the Princess of Wales’s Together at Christmas carol service, which was held at Westminster Abbey on the 5th December, and attended by all the Wales’, as well the Duke of Kent, the Tindalls, and Lord Frederick Windsor’s family. It’s being broadcast by ITV on Christmas Eve – alternatively, we’ve rounded up some of our other favourites, that each come with guaranteed festive joy.
Then there are the jamborees. Queen Camilla gives an annual party for children at Clarence House, there are staff celebrations a-plenty for the various Royal Households – and there’s the Royal Family’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, usually held the week before Christmas day itself. A tradition begun by Queen Elizabeth II as a means of thanking her relations for their support over the year, it has been continued by King Charles, who extends invitations to (almost) all the wider family, including the children and grandchildren of his mother’s cousins. Depending on who accepts, it can be as many as 70 people, and lunch is laid on a series of round tables in the Marble Hall where three large Christmas trees are installed (a clever means of decorating a big space), there are crackers – the Royal Family cross their arms to pull them - and the menu features turkey raised on the Sandringham estate.
A Norfolk Christmas
Sandringham, a Jacobean manor bought by Queen Victoria for her son Edward VII, being the location of the main event. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip used to travel there by ordinary, scheduled train (though in a First Class carriage) and King Charles has maintained the routine; his and Queen Camilla’s arrival at King’s Lynn station a few days before Christmas, where they are met by car, marks the official start of their Christmas break. Meanwhile the Wales’ decamp to their house, Amner Hall, only two miles east of Sandringham, and decorated with the help of Ben Pentreath. Other members of the Royal Family – the King’s siblings and their children and grandchildren (though again, not quite all of them) – begin arriving on Christmas Eve. With, it should be noted, brimming suitcases, for there’s a packed itinerary.
There are a couple of lesser-known activities. One of the odder scenes of 2021’s Spencer featured Princess Diana being ‘weighed in’ to Sandringham on a pair of jockeys’ scales – a genuine happening which was started by King Edward VII in the early 1900s. He wanted to gauge how much enjoyment was had by his guests by how many pounds they had put on (they’re weighed out again.) But while notes continued to be kept during the successive reigns of George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II, the suspicion is that, under King Charles, it’s become an elective choice. The Christmas Eve football match similarly doesn’t involve everyone. A ‘friendly’ between the Sandringham estate staff and villagers from Castle Rising, it’s long been an annual event for the Prince of Wales and, once upon a time, Prince Harry – who wrote about it in Spare. Last year Prince George – an avid Aston Villa fan - joined his father for the first time on the Sandringham side, while the Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis cheered from the sidelines.
And then, at 4pm on Christmas Eve, everybody meets for tea in the saloon, a large, double-height room with panelling, an exquisite painted ceiling, and plenty of sofas. Darren McGrady, who was personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II for fifteen years, has reported on the likelihood sandwiches with fillings of of ham and mustard and coronation chicken, a ginger cake, and a pot of Earl Grey. The children add the final touches to the Christmas tree, including glass baubles that date to Queen Victoria’s time, and presents, laid out on trestle tables, are exchanged. Crucially, they’re inexpensive, and often jokey: the Prince of Wales once gave his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, a pair of slippers with her face on them – which apparently went down very well – Princess Anne gave her brother (before he was King) a white leather loo seat, and the Princess of Wales has been known to make chutney for everyone. Later there are cocktails – the King’s favourite is a said to be a gin martini -followed by a formal, black-tie dinner at a long table. Potentially this is one thing that has changed slightly since King Charles ascended to the throne: Tina Brown, in The Palace Papers, detailed the King’s interest in tablescaping (in contrast to his mother’s reliance on a poinsettia or two for seasonal decoration) and the antique table linen he’s found in the cellars of various palaces.
Christmas Day itself begins with stockings for the children, a light breakfast for the women on trays in their bedrooms, while downstairs the men are offered a full breakfast of kippers, eggs, and toast. Then everybody walks to the 16th century church of St. Mary Magdalene, on the Sandringham estate, for the morning service, after which time is spent talking to the other members of the congregation and people who have come to the church especially. There’s champagne (Veuve Clicquot, we’re told) served before the traditional lunch of turkey and the associated vegetables, and at 3pm everybody sits down together to watch the King’s televised address to the nation. Afterwards, there’s tea - mince pies, fruit cake, and a chocolate yule log – and in the evening, a buffet dinner, and games that might include charades. However, some members of the family might have slipped away, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, who return to Amner Hall where, according to Tina Brown, ‘they do what every other English family does: . . . watch telly. Any telly, that is, not starring members of their own family.’ It’s perhaps the ultimate relatable move.
