British Royal Christmas 1: 2008-2021


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I am not sure if I would put Sophie and Charles in the same generation or not...I mean Edward and Charles are both children of the Queen but there is quite an age gap. I suppose they are the same generation in a sense, but Edward and Sophie are in completely different life stages than Charles is.
 
Well I would never have put Diana in the same generation as Charles and she was 3 years older than Sophie and Sarah Chatto. When Charles was 31 and getting married, Edward and Sophie were still at school. Having the same parent does not mean you are of the same generation.
 
I understand your argument but it seems to me it is based on the premis that this is all about the Queen.

Cepe - I agree that the Queen does not think it's all about her.

On the other hand, they are celebrating Christmas in the way the Queen thinks is best for the family and the firm. It's not ego centric - but she does rule the roost.

I will not be surprised at all if Charles keeps some traditions and starts some new ones as part of how he sees the best way to celebrate Christmas for the family and firm.

And I really have no firm idea what he might think that is. I'm not an insider and have no idea what's working well and what might be dysfunctional, in his eyes. And yes, I believe all families have their own dysfunctions. Even Royal ones. ;)
 
From most counts, Charles and Sarah are of the same generation, while Sophie both is and isn't (Edward, on the other hand, is).

The Baby Boom generation is the generation born between 1946 and 1964 - making Charles, his siblings, and both his maternal cousins all Baby Boomers.

Sophie, however, is Generation X, which covers those born between about 1965 and 1985 (some counts start Gen X at 1963, which would make Sarah and Edward Gen X as well). In addition to Sophie, this also includes the Phillips and the Wales children. In contrast, the Yorks, Wessexes, Chattos, and Armstrong-Joneses would be Gen Y or Millennials.

From a familial generation approach, however, Charles, his siblings, his cousins, and their respective spouses are all of the same generation as they're all grandchildren (or spouses of grandchildren) of George VI. Similarly, the Wales, York, Wessex, Phillips, Chatto, and Armstrong-Jones children are all of the same generation because they're all great-grandchildren of George VI.
 
I think in this case "generation" means as in first cousins regardless of age. I have that same situation in my own family- my first cousins range in age from 83 to late 40s.
 
It may mean that to some, but 65 and 40 or 83 and 40 are not the same generation. We have had your definitions of generation in my family, my father and some of his cousins were 20 some odd years apart. They were cousins, but they were not the same generation.
 
There is a familiar generation and a social generation. Prince William and Viscount Severn are in the same familiar generation as grandchildren of the Queen but not in the same social generation since one is 31 and the other 6.

If Bea and Eugenie or Peter and Zara wanted to spend Christmas with their other parent, I think the Queen would have let them. William in 2010 volunteered to work at RAF Valley and spent last year in Bucklebury with the Queen's permission. With Amner Hall, next year the Middletons could stay there with the Cambridges doing Christmas Eve with the royals and then spend Christmas Day with the Middletons after church.
 
I don't think that William is particularly close to his younger cousins and he has already had one Christmas with the Middleton's and I expect that will happen more and more - next year I would expect him to be with them rather than with the royals, unless they are also at Anmer Hall.


I actually think once Anmer Hall is complete there's a good chance the Middletons will spend Christmas there every year- it's just such a perfect compromise, allowing Kate to have her family and their traditions and allowing William to do what's expected of him.
 
We humans do love to classify things and put labels on them and put them in boxes, don't we! :lol:

"Generation" is necessarily flexible concept because of the variables involved, and it also has different meanings for different purposes, and is defined differently by different people.

Speaking of the relationship between people in a family, I restrict it to mean all of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor, which accords with MarNoe's definition. Once you start comparing individuals who do not have a common ancestor, it gets more difficult, but in my view when A marries B and becomes the parent of the next generation of B's family, A and B are of the same generation despite the fact that A might have been 20 at the time of her wedding and B was 40.

:xmastree:
 
I actually think once Anmer Hall is complete there's a good chance the Middletons will spend Christmas there every year- it's just such a perfect compromise, allowing Kate to have her family and their traditions and allowing William to do what's expected of him.

If it is ok for William then it has to be ok for the others to either have their in-laws present or to miss to be with them and so a smaller gathering each year.
 
I think once Charles is King the number of attendees to Sandringham will drop significantly. He may have his siblings attend for a year or two, but they will eventually not be invited and have their own Christmas celebrations. If you think about, Anne already has 2 grandchildren and will have another next year. In a few years time she may have more, therefore she will maybe want her own Christmas gathering at her own home with her own children and their partners. The same for Andrew - he may or may not remarry Sarah, and their daughters will likely be married in 5-10 years, thus they may have children. This may mean he will have his own gathering.

The only difference is Edward as his kids are still really young, but I don't think that still means Charles will extend an invite to them. He and Sophie will likely spend Christmas at Bagshot Park with her father (if he is still alive) and her brother's wife and children perhaps.

I think it's about time the spouses got to spend Christmas with their families. Once you marry you don't spend Christmas with your family at all. Kate made that exception and she has the only one in recent years to do so. The Chatto's and Armstrong-Jones' take it in turns with their families, but for the married in-laws (Camilla, Sophie, Tim etc.) they never spend Christmas day with their families since they married in.
 
If Sandringham is too small, that the family has to use the servants rooms; then why does every assume that Anmer Hall is for William and not being remodeled for the family?

IMO, it could easily be for Anne and her family. The Queen has never stated it was for William or did I miss something?

The Queen/Phillip may prefer Sandringham so she had to reduce the number of people to her immediate family.

Charles may move Christmas to Windsor and keep inviting his family/siblings. Since it is closer to London/country homes of various members of the family, the familes can spend Christmas Eve and early part of Christmas with Charles & the RF and Christmas dinner with their non-royal family.
 
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I think once Charles is King the number of attendees to Sandringham will drop significantly. He may have his siblings attend for a year or two, but they will eventually not be invited and have their own Christmas celebrations. If you think about, Anne already has 2 grandchildren and will have another next year. In a few years time she may have more, therefore she will maybe want her own Christmas gathering at her own home with her own children and their partners. The same for Andrew - he may or may not remarry Sarah, and their daughters will likely be married in 5-10 years, thus they may have children. This may mean he will have his own gathering.

The only difference is Edward as his kids are still really young, but I don't think that still means Charles will extend an invite to them. He and Sophie will likely spend Christmas at Bagshot Park with her father (if he is still alive) and her brother's wife and children perhaps.

I think it's about time the spouses got to spend Christmas with their families. Once you marry you don't spend Christmas with your family at all. Kate made that exception and she has the only one in recent years to do so. The Chatto's and Armstrong-Jones' take it in turns with their families, but for the married in-laws (Camilla, Sophie, Tim etc.) they never spend Christmas day with their families since they married in.

Actually, Camilla always leaves after Christmas lunch.
 
Don't forget that not all the rooms are bedrooms. Many of the 'rooms' are also what we would call 'suites' so that, for instance, Charles and Camilla have something like a bedroom, at least one dressing room, a sitting room and a bathroom where they can be alone.

In many of these grand homes there is a space for the family to be totally private and then the guest bedrooms, with or without private bathrooms and maybe an extra room and then the general entertaining areas. There are also areas that are just for the staff - like Downton Abbey where the downstairs has about 6 or so rooms for them to spend their working time as well as these days a staff lounge where they can relax.

31 people coming from 10 different families - counting Harry now as a 'family' unit separate from his father and that means the suites and other rooms being used quite easily.
 
it would need 16 bedrooms at least. Country estates like this usually have 10, maybe 12. Places like Blenheim and Chatsworth have the numbers required and they are on a different scale.

Also, they probably lost some small bedrooms in order to make bathrooms. I should think that's a issue as well.
 
I think when Charles becomes king... BOOM! DROP! It will be him, Camilla, her kids, William and his family, Harry and his family....and no one else. Remember, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee balcony scene was a VERY telling picture of what is to come... Laura and Tom will most certainly be thrust into the inner circle as well once their step-father becomes king.
 
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I think when Charles becomes king... BOOM! DROP! It will be him, Camilla, her kids, William and his family, Harry and his family....and no one else. Remember, the 2012 Golden Jubilee balcony scene was a VERY telling picture of what is to come... Laura and Tom will most certainly be thrust into the inner circle as well once their step-father becomes king.
The balcony scene last year was the Diamond Jubilee not the Golden one, Lady Marmalade. :)
 
I think when Charles becomes king... BOOM! DROP! It will be him, Camilla, her kids, William and his family, Harry and his family....and no one else. Remember, the 2012 Diamond Jubilee balcony scene was a VERY telling picture of what is to come... Laura and Tom will most certainly be thrust into the inner circle as well once their step-father becomes king.

I think the balcony scene during the Diamond Jubilee was specifically set to show the line of succession to the throne. The Christmas holidays are a whole different kettle of fish as its a private family celebration. I think that Charles will want to stick to the traditional ways the family has always done things but also I think he'll be more relaxed. We'll just have to wait and see how things go when the time comes.
 
Martin ‏@MartinRoyalUK 29m
Members of the Royal Family are currently on their way to join Her Majesty at Sandringham: including Prince William, Kate & George.
 
The Queen is also wearing the yellow outfit she wore for William & Catherine's wedding.
 
BBC News - Queen and Royal Family attend church service at Sandringham
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family are attending church in Sandringham for a Christmas service.

Some arrived for an early service while the main one starts at 11:00 GMT and lasts for around 45 minutes.

odd that since Philip was taken ill we have started seeing pictures from this early service, I wonder what has changed? Also in the bbc pic is the Queen wearing a fur coat? (Harry still has his beard it looks like)
 
Gosh Harry, please put a coat on! Everybody else is wrapped up to the nines and he has just his suit jacket on.

Nice that Zara has come and she hitched a ride with the Queen for the early service.
 
Daily Mail report doesnt seem to have grasped the fact that they go to church twice. But the pictures are good.
 
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