Christmas With the Royals: What Holiday Traditions King Charles Is Keeping and Skipping Following Queen Elizabeth’s Death
Christmas for the British royal family will not be the same this year as in years past following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. However, while there will be a few changes some long-standing traditions the late monarch followed will still be celebrated.
Here’s what King Charles III and the rest of the royal family will and won’t be doing this Christmas.
One former royal was invited to Sandringham for the first time in decades
The royals will again gather at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to celebrate the festive period. This year though they will be celebrating the holiday without the family matriarch.
King Charles will now host the members of his family and in what isn’t a surprise to anyone, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be there. Following the release of their Netflix documentary, it doesn’t seem like the Sussexes and their relatives are ready to unite and gather around the dinner table just yet.
Someone who will be there though for the first time in more than two decades is Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Queen Elizabeth did not invite the Duchess of York to Sandringham after her divorce from Andrew. But this year King Charles has invited her to stay at the residence with her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who always celebrate the holiday with the royal family.
Royal commentator Robert Jobson said: “By inviting [Sarah] to spend the holiday in the royal fold, King Charles is showing us all what Christmas is all about — family and forgiveness.”
Royal expert Phil Dampier agreed and told the Daily Mail: “[Andrew] is still a member of the family and by inviting ex-wife Fergie it looks as though Charles is being forgiving and kind. Andy and Fergie’s daughters are grown up with kids of their own so it makes sense for them all to be invited, including the Duchess of York.”
The family will exchange and open gifts on Christmas Eve
Keeping with the family’s long tradition, they will open their gifts on Christmas Eve.
King Charles’ former butler Grant Harrold recently spoke about this royal tradition.
“It was during the afternoon tea, which shocks a lot of people, that’s when they would do their presents,” Harrold revealed via Slingo. “The tradition of having Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve goes back to the German side (Prince Philip’s side) of the family.”
Harrold added that after everyone was done opening their presents is when they would have dinner.
What the royals will be watching on TV
Another tradition the family will carry on is attending mass at St. Mary Magdalene Church near the Sandringham House on Christmas morning just as they have in years past.
After the church service, the family heads back to the house and prepares for lunch. A traditional turkey lunch is served before the royals settle down to watch the queen’s annual Christmas speech; only this year it will be the king’s speech. King Charles will address the U.K. and the Commonwealth on the holiday for the very first time.
The new monarch is expected to pay tribute to his late mother in his address.
King Charles won’t leave Christmas decorations up as long
A major tradition of the queen’s that Charles will be changing this year is that he will not be keeping the Christmas decorations up through February like his mom always did.
The queen used to stay at Sandringham after the rest of the family left to honor her father, King George VI, who died at the estate on Feb. 6, 1952. While she was there, all of the holiday decorations would remain up and not be taken down until the second week of February when she left.
As Express noted, The Royal Collection Trust announced that the king won’t keep the decorations at that royal property up for as long. The decorations there will now likely come down at the beginning of January.
