The Queen has been forced to pull out of several royal engagements due to ill health but recently enjoyed a weekend of ‘rest and recuperation’, where she began planning this year’s Royal Christmas – which she is ‘determined’ to host.
The festive celebrations will be very different from last year, which saw the Queen and Prince Philip spend Christmas at Buckingham Palace without their family for the first time in 33 years.
But, despite this being the Queen’s first year without her late husband, she is said to be ‘committed’ to welcoming her family for festivities.
How do the Royals normally celebrate Christmas?
During the 1960s, when Andrew, Charles, Anne and Edward were children, the royals celebrated Christmas at Windsor Castle, where the family usually spends the Easter holidays.
But in the 1980s, they moved the festivities to Sandringham House while the castle was being re-wired. They were said to have enjoyed it so much that they decided to return in the following years.
And it’s hardly any wonder. Sandringham House is the Queen’s much loved 8,000 hectare country estate in Norfolk, and has been the private home of four generations of British Monarchs since 1862.
Home to fruit farms, museums and beautiful gardens, the Sandringham website states that more than 200 people make their living from the estate, including gamekeepers, gardeners, farmers, and workers for the sawmill and apple juice pressing plant.
Since 1988, the Queen has traditionally spent the festive period – including Christmas and New Year – here, where she hosts the likes of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex.
Royal festive traditions
There are lots of festive traditions that take place at Sandringham.
On Christmas Eve, after finishing decorating the Royal Christmas tree, the family are said to take part in parlour games, and exchange presents at teatime.
All members of the Royal Household also receive presents from the Queen, and she gives Christmas puddings to her staff – around 1,500 in total.
On Christmas Day, the whole family walks to the nearby St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham – which dates back to the 16th century and used to be visited by the Queen’s Great-Grandmother, Queen Victoria.
On their journey, photographers will take photos of The Royals dressed in their festive best, before they return to the house to tuck into a Christmas lunch. Reportedly, guests are expected to enter the dining room in order of seniority.
But, according to the new Princess Diana biopic, Spencer, there’s a slightly more bizarre tradition that takes place. Apparently, the Queen likes to weigh her guests after their Christmas meal.
It might sound like some sort of strange shaming ritual, but Her Majesty seemingly uses this as a measure of how much guests have enjoyed their meal: The more weight gain, the merrier. Rather them than us…
Presumably, they also sit down to watch the Queen’s Christmas Day Speech, which is reportedly filmed a couple of weeks in advance of the big day, in Buckingham Palace.
How will the Royal Family celebrate Christmas this year?
This year will be a return to tradition, but without the Duke of Edinburgh, who sadly passed away in April 2021.
The extent of the festivities will also likely be dependent on how well the Queen is.
Months after losing her husband, Her Majesty suffered a bout of ill health, which saw her spending a night in King Edward VII hospital, in central London, on Wednesday 20 October. It was her first hospital stay in eight years.
She was recommended rest, at least two weeks off work, and referred for ‘tests’, all of which resulted in her missing her scheduled appearance at COP26.
Shortly after, she was was forced to pull out of her Remembrance Day duties, for the first time ever, due to an unrelated back sprain.
But, if everything goes to the Queen’s plan, she will host at Sandringham with members of her family, after being forced to be apart last year.
This year might even see them reinstate their tradition of gifting each other joke presents. According to the Daily Star, Meghan Markle once gifted the Queen a singing toy hamster… Who said it was a formal affair?
Will Prince William and Prince Harry be there?
There are rumours that Prince William, Kate and their three children will be spending every Christmas with the Queen from now on but it’s currently unknown what their definite plans are for Christmas 2021.
Over the years, Kate and William have split their time between their two families.
It has also been suggested that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are planning to spend Christmas in the UK, with their two children – though recent reports refute these rumours.
A source told US entertainment source that ‘staff know’ Harry and Meghan won’t be in attendance.
If they do head to the UK, it will be the first time that members of the Royal Family will meet baby Lili, who was born earlier this year. Last year, Meghan and Harry spent Christmas at their home in California.
How is the Queen’s health now?
With her hospital stay, back injury and missed events, the Queens family, friends and the public have, understandably, been worried about her wellbeing.
But, after a period of rest, the Prime Minister has reported that she is looking ‘very well’ and the monarch was snapped on Tuesday standing without a stick as she met General Nick Carter at Windsor Castle.
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