The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to the British royalty is the word tradition. No matter how much time passes by, there are some things that never change within the monarchy, and one of them is how they celebrate Christmas.
Sadly, this year would be the first without Queen Elizabeth hosting the traditional dinner at the Sandringham House Estate in Norfolk.
Instead, it would be King Charles whose speech the nation would be looking forward to, as they did with his late mother.
Late Queen Elizabeth wanted to keep things simple, and contrary to the belief that the estate was overly decorated for the holiday season, that wasn’t the case. Instead, the Queen used to place several Christmas trees around the house at Sandringham, most of which were real, and a big artificial one in the center of the living room which she had owned for over 30 years.
“The Queen is not lavish, so the décor is minimal,” the Queen’s former chef, Darren McGrady, told Good Housekeeping in 2016.
“The royal family has a large Christmas tree and a large silver artificial tree in the dining room, which is about 30 years old.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales love spending Christmas with the family and they believe it is important that their children experience the holiday magic in a way all of their school pals do, by gathering together, having dinner, and exchanging Christmas gifts.
This year, however, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and the youngest child of William and Kate won’t be spending the entire holiday season with their grandpa, the King.
According to royal expert Jeremy Archer, William and Kate are looking to stay at Sandringham for Christmas but then travel to Berkshire to spend New Year’s Eve with Kate’s parents.
“It is going to be different, but Christmas at Sandringham works well for the family,” Archer told OK!.
“Unlike Windsor and Buckingham Palace, it’s a sporting venue and fits in well with their traditional Boxing Day shoot. In addition, the Prince of Wales has his house, Anmer Hall, quite close by, so it wouldn’t inconvenience him and Kate.”
Jennie Bond, another royal expert, believes that William and Kate will leave the estate after the significant Christmas celebration would be over.
“The younger generation might want to do their own thing for at least part of the time,” she said. “So they may just have Christmas lunch [at Sandringham].
“I think the King’s Christmas plans might be up in the air a bit. The younger royals will probably want to spend time with their own families, so I think the two or three-day celebrations of the past may, indeed, be a thing of the past. While I imagine there will be a gathering at Sandringham, whether it will be quite as extended as it used to be with the Queen and with quite as many people, I’m not sure.”
In a 2019 podcast interview, Mike Tindall, the husband of King Charles’ niece Zara spoke how the sitting for the Christmas dinner is arranged. Among the rest, he explained that the children don’t eat on the same table with the grownups. In fact, they are not even in the same room but have their own Christmas meal, and that means George, Charlotte, and even Louis won’t be having their dinner with their mom and dad.
They will, however, spend time with their cousins and younger relatives, including Tindall’s children, Mia, Lena, and Lucas.
We wish the royals a very Merry Christmas.
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