British Royal Christmas 1: 2008-2021


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muriel

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Just thought it would be useful to hear what everybody thought would be the key changes to the royal christmas routine once Charles succeeds to the throbe. Also, would be interesting to get peoples views on changes on who might be invited to the royal christmas. Camilla's children will almost certainly be invited.
 
I like to think of Charles as a traditional sort of man--his brothers and sister and their children have always spent Christmas together, I think they would probably try to continue to do so. And yes, I do believe Camilla's children would be invited as well.
 
Great Thread
I also like to think it will be more open, if the boys aren't married by then, to bring along some friends. I don't think it will be as stuffy traditional when Charles is King. I think it will be less royal and more family.
I would like to think that Camilla family will be invited, even her siblings.
 
I can't see Bearice and Eugenie spending Christmas with Charles over their mother. They make the sacrifice of not seeing Sarah on Cristmas Day for the sake of their Grandmother at the present time but I can't see them doing it for their Uncle and I doubt that Charles would care what they did as they don't seem at all close.
 
I agree it won't be as traditional and formal. I think people (like the York girls) will feel less obligated to be there and just might enjoy the holiday w other members of the family or in-laws. Same for Princess Anne and her family. I think it'll get much smaller once Wm and Harry start having children. Probably Chas. and Camilla, Wm and his family, Harry and his family, Camilla's children and their families. Maybe Prince Andrew (esp. if he's still single) and maybe The Wessexes. I can't see the Chattos or the Linleys going evey year.
 
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Maybe Charles will invite Sarah, too!:flowers:

Or maybe....not!:ermm:

How was their relation during the years of her marriage with Andrew and after?
 
I was wondering the same thing. I'd get all misty if he did, 'cos I'm a big softy and I like those soppy Christmas get-back-together movies, but I have no idea what he thinks of her and he may well cringe at the very thought.:lol:
 
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Charles thought Sarah was great fun and that made Diana jealous. I know Sarah has said that after her divorce Charles has just excluded her, but I know they got on extremely well during her marriage. I don't think he will have any desire to see him at XMas.
 
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Somehow I doubt if Charles will invite Sarah. She is very much from the past.... a past he would rather not remember!

I think invitees would probably be Charles and Camilla's respective children and grandchildren, the Yorks, Wessex's and Anne's family, and probably the Linley's and the Chatto's. Not sure if the Kents and Gloucesters would make the list. Similarly, not sure Camilla's own sister and family would make the list - they may be included in the New Year at Balmoral celebrations!

I think the York girls would continue to attend, as this would be on the ways in which they can continue to be relatively close to the throne, and be seen in the Press. I don't think the girls are particularly close to Will and Harry
 
I don't think it will change very much. I'd expect Princess Alexandra to always get an invite. Not only is she widowed now but she's always been close to Camilla so it makes sense that Alexandra would always be a permanent fixture.
 
Just thought it would be useful to hear what everybody thought would be the key changes to the royal christmas routine once Charles succeeds to the throbe. Also, would be interesting to get peoples views on changes on who might be invited to the royal christmas. Camilla's children will almost certainly be invited.

Wait! Are you saying her children and grandchildren have not been invited to Christmas since C and C married?! Wow! That would not be very nice. What ever transpired in the past, they are now part of the family. It would be rude not to invite Camilla's family, IMO. Why would they not be invited?
 
Wait! Are you saying her children and grandchildren have not been invited to Christmas since C and C married?! Wow! That would not be very nice. What ever transpired in the past, they are now part of the family. It would be rude not to invite Camilla's family, IMO. Why would they not be invited?

From what I've read Camilla has spent Christmas night and Boxing day with her children. Given the fact that she now has two granddaughters Tom & Laura may well be invited to join the festivities in coming years. Having said that, their respective spouses also have families with whom they would want to spend time and who would want to see the little girls at Christmas.
 
I don't think it will change very much. I'd expect Princess Alexandra to always get an invite. Not only is she widowed now but she's always been close to Camilla so it makes sense that Alexandra would always be a permanent fixture.
I agree with you,m BeatrixFan alexandra will continue to be invited because of her closeness to Camilla
 
I thought this thread was more going to be about the Christmas Broadcast.
An idea I think would be good for this broadcast would be to involve all the members of the Royal family but with the King, obviously, being centre-stage, but having a more dynamic role in this broadcast so as to touch on everybody's interests.
 
Perhaps Camilla's children feel they couldn't truly enjoy Christmas if they had to obey royal protocol, instead of having a nice little family Christmas. After all, Christmas is about family, and your children are the stars. You'd especially want the little ones to feel free to enjoy themselves, rather than having to sit neatly with their hands on their laps and NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING.
 
Perhaps Camilla's children feel they couldn't truly enjoy Christmas if they had to obey royal protocol, instead of having a nice little family Christmas. After all, Christmas is about family, and your children are the stars. You'd especially want the little ones to feel free to enjoy themselves, rather than having to sit neatly with their hands on their laps and NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING.

Maybe, the Prince of Wales (or then the HM the King) and HRH the Princess Consort will spend their Christmas Day at the Sandringham House with the immediate members of the Royal Family. The Princess Consort's children will probably spend their Chrsitmas with their own spouses & children (the grandchildren of the Princess Consort) and maybe with Mr Parker Bowles.
 
i doubt much will change

charles seems to be very tradionalist....
 
Oh, apparently, they eat the Prince of Wales' Duchy Originals organic turkey for their Christmas dinner. Oh dear ! I wonder if they have to eat his organic Christmas pudding, too ? His Christmas pudding is lovely but I still prefer my own, I must say.
 
Query whether the venue for the royal christmas celebrations would shift from Sandringham to Windsor, or even Balmoral?
 
Query whether the venue for the royal christmas celebrations would shift from Sandringham to Windsor, or even Balmoral?

Balmoral, I think, and traditional, less formality with organic foods. I think already this year Prince Charles and the Duchess are in Scotland on the weekends.

The Duchess of Cornwall's children and grandchildren will be invited to the royal Christmas. I think Prince Charles with let his sons spend time with their in-laws. What I mean a year with him and then a year with the in-laws.:)
 
Wait! Are you saying her children and grandchildren have not been invited to Christmas since C and C married?! Wow! That would not be very nice. What ever transpired in the past, they are now part of the family. It would be rude not to invite Camilla's family, IMO. Why would they not be invited?

The Queen could easily have invited Camilla's children and grandchildren to stay on the estate at Sandringham, as she has done with the divorced Duchess of York and with the widower father of the Countess of Wessex, but she chooses not to, which is why Camilla always disappears to Gloucestershire on Boxing Day.

Query whether the venue for the royal christmas celebrations would shift from Sandringham to Windsor, or even Balmoral?

Until about the late 1980s the royal christmas was always celebrated at Windsor and only New Year was celebrated at Sandringham, but for some reason I can't remember it was moved one year and they never returned to Windsor.

Charles thought Sarah was great fun and that made Diana jealous. I know Sarah has said that after her divorce Charles has just excluded her, but I know they got on extremely well during her marriage. I don't think he will have any desire to see him at XMas.

Sarah also credited Prince Charles in her autobiography with saving her life by preventing her from drowning in a mountain stream when she was concussed after a skiing accident in about 1988. But nowadays she seems to have forgotten that incident as it doesn't fit in with her marketing of herself in the States.
 
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Why would the Queen choose not to invite Camilla's family?
 
Why would the Queen choose not to invite Camilla's family?

Only the immediate royal family are typically at the Christmas table at Sandringham. Camilla's children are not grand children of the Queen, so they get an oppotunity to spend time with their father or their respective in laws. Camilla typically leaves after lunch on christmas day to spend the evening and boxing day with the rest of her family.
 
. . .. . After all, Christmas is about family, and your children are the stars. You'd especially want the little ones to feel free to enjoy themselves, rather than having to sit neatly with their hands on their laps and NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING.
I remember one of the royal documentaries where andrew related how they used to race their peddle cars down the halls with more than a few "collisions with walls, furniture, etc. Seeing all the priceless furniture with artworks on top made me wince, and then I laughed. Contrary to popular belief, they seem to have had a pretty "normal" childhood.

I think the York girls would continue to attend, . . . . . . don't think the girls are particularly close to Will and Harry.
I was enchanted by the family dynamics at Peter's wedding. All the cousins seemed to be in cahoots and up to all sorts of "family" mischief. Harry was snapped whispering to one of the girls on the steps of the church after the wedding. One of the York girls did a reading in the service and many commented on this forum that they hadn't realised the families were "that" close! Similarly, Beatrice and Eugenie both frequent the same social cirlces and nightclubs as the Wales.

I have a feeling that Christmas's could change dramatically in the near future. With the world (according to US econonomists) heading into an even worse depression than the last "Great Depression", I have a feeling that jetting to the Bahama's, Africa, or even the Ski fields of Europe, would not be received very well by the public at large. That being the case, we could see a larger, "family" oriented Christmas making it's debut in the very near future.
 
Until about the late 1980s the royal christmas was always celebrated at Windsor and only New Year was celebrated at Sandringham, but for some reason I can't remember it was moved one year and they never returned to Windsor.

Up until the mid 1960s Royal Christmases were celebrated at Sandringham, but in the mid 1960s there was something of a royal baby boom. There was more room at Windsor and so Christmas celebrations were moved there. After quite some time and some downsizing of who got invited to Christmas celebrations they were moved back to Sandringham. The extended family, the Kents and Gloucesters don't get invited to Sandringham anymore, instead the Queen has a Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace ( it was Wed Dec 17th this year) for the extended family and only immediate family go to Sandringham. At one stage too Princess Margaret's children only went to Sandringham every 2 years, not every year. Last year both of Princess Anne's children had Christmas with their partner's families and didn't go to Sandringham so they'll probably be there this year. Peter and Autumn Philips were seen going to Wednesday's lunch so they are back in the UK for Christmas.
 
Peter and Autumn Philips were seen going to Wednesday's lunch so they are back in the UK for Christmas.
Do you have any pictures of the Wednesday christmas lunch? I have not seen any yet
 
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After reading this thread, it seems to me that the royal family at Christmas faces the same kind of challenging issues that most modern families face at such times. In the WWII years, it was so easy. There was the King, Queen, and the two princesses with their dogs. Even into the 50s and 60s, it was still straightforward: the Queen, Queen Mother, Queen's husband and children, Queen's sister and her husband and kids. But then something happened. Divorces, remarriages, kids from other marriages who want to spend Christmas with their non-royal side of the family. The "family" is now a multitude of families much more complicated, diverse. It's classically illustrated in the case of the Kennedy family. When Big Joe and Rose were around and kicking, they were the Kennedys. Then Big Joe and Rose's kids grow up and marry. Their kids and grandkids are Lawfords and Shrivers and Smiths. Then even the Kennedy named kids marry Schlossbergs, Cuomos, Schwarzeneggers, etc.

I think that if Camilla's kids wanted to spend time at Sandringham with her and Charles, William and Harry, then The Queen would likely be happy to invite them for a day or two, but the case is probably as simple as: Tom and Laura prefer to spend the holidays with their dad's family or their spouses' families. And so Camilla makes time to go to them instead of them going to her. This is what most families have to do. It's impossible to see everyone you wish to see on the holidays. You try and you see who you can see, but it's all you can do, and there is always next year, we hope!!
 
You are right, it is tricky when step families are concerned. Given that the children of Charles and Camilla are not particularly close, and the Queen and the DoE are in their 80s, it makes sense not to disturb the existing Christmas routine. I think the current arrangements work well - the PB children can spend the day with their in-laws or their father if they prefer, and spend the evening and Boxing day with Camilla
 
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