British Royal Christmas 1: 2008-2021


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I haven't read the background to all this. Why did Edward and Sophie travel 132 miles to Norfolk from a Tier 4 area?

I actually think that they are on the Sandringham estate. We have no way of knowing how long they have been there, maybe as long as William and Kate have been at Anmer. Made me wonder if the Duke of Edinburgh isn’t somewhere there too.
 
Yes, I did wonder about that myself, especially as Louise and James are beyond the wide eyed wondering at Xmas lights stage. Nor are the Queen and Prince Philip at Sandringham to visit. And once there the Wessexeswere given a slot near to the Cambridges who happened to be visiting the display at that particular day and time. A very large coincidence, surely?

Yep, this is why I think the Wessex’s are at Sandringham. The light show was due to be visited by all members of the royal family. So they had arrangements with The Princess Royals’s family and the York’s as well. But due to the lockdown only royals that could attend were those in the vicinity, so the Wessex’s must be at Sandringham.
 
The royal chefs have been tempting viewers:) and expanding waistlines:D all year long with traditional recipes.

I think many people are doing more baking than ever as they are home now, so what a fine and delicious idea!
 
Yep, this is why I think the Wessex’s are at Sandringham. The light show was due to be visited by all members of the royal family. So they had arrangements with The Princess Royals’s family and the York’s as well. But due to the lockdown only royals that could attend were those in the vicinity, so the Wessex’s must be at Sandringham.
Thank you for this additional information Claire. It's a shame that the York and Princess Royal's families were unable to attend as it would have been a wonderful treat for the Phillips and Tindall girls to join in too.


I've read that the Wessex family had left prior to the Tier 4 announcement so it appears that they were fortunate to be able to travel to Sandringham.
 
The royal pastry chefs have shared their recipe and how to video for gingerbread houses. They're asking the public to create and share their edible creations too. Steady, practiced hands create the most delicate decorations with royal icing. (Click on the link to find the recipe.)



They make it look so easy :D
 
:previous: The pastry chef who so effortlessly piped the decorations on the gingerbread pieces!!! Mad skills.?
 
Here is a little more information on Luminate. The attraction is not themed for Christmas so there won't be holiday specific lights or a Father Christmas at the end of the trail. It's open through Jan. 17 2021.


Daniel Maycock, director of Luminate, said "We have had to ‘re-imagine’ some of the interactive elements, so there are less touch points but we feel we have created a memorable trail, with something for all ages."
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/luminate-sandringham-in-pictures-6853838


They're offering refunds for those who have to cancel or will allow visitors to reschedule.


The event has been modified due to coronavirus, with online pre booking of tickets required, strict time slot entry on the night to reduce any queuing and a reduction in the capacity on the event site, being just some of the measures in place.
Some of the profit raised will be going back to the Sandringham Estate according to Luminate Director Daniel Maylock.


https://www.express.co.uk/news/roya...ham-house-lights-Luminate-visit-christmas-evg
 
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That may be all very admirable in ordinary times, however a Luminate attraction drawing (hopefully) large crowds, is an odd thing to plan and promote in a year when the general theme has been, to beat a pandemic every person/family/ household should be very careful about social distancing and isolating from others.

Especially in the UK, which has had a very high level of active cases. Especially too, when held on a royal estate owned by the head of a family which is supposed to set an example to others.
 
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I think its simply a case that the Wessex's were on a pre-Christmas trip to Sandringham asa break from their own home. They may well have been there for quite a while a Louise's school broke up for end of term on 10th Dec. I certainly don't believe they travelled on the Sunday after the Tier 4 lockdown. Sandringham is where they usually go for Christmas and unlike some of the families they do stay on quite long with HM and Philip usually so I can see them wanting to spend some time there, which would have been allowed before the latest announcements.
As for them having a slot at around the same time as the Cambridges, likely all and any tickets/slots for the RF were booked at the same time resulting in sequential time slots.

What I find ironic is that there wouldn't have been a single fuss if the same thing had happened with other families - e.g a 'regular' family running into the Cambridge's. Even the DM pointed out the families maintained social distancing and I'm sure they have picked the photos that best make it seem they were close together.
 
That may be all very admirable in ordinary times, however a Luminate attraction drawing (hopefully) large crowds, is an odd thing to plan and promote in a year when the general theme has been, to beat a pandemic and so every person/family/ household should be very careful about social distancing and isolating from others.

Especially in the UK, which has had a very high level of active cases. Especially too, when held on a royal estate owned by the head of a family which is supposed to set an example to others.

If the attraction was not allowed it would not have happened, it is permitted so went ahead. Simple as. The estate is setting an example - of how other employers and businesses can adjust to be as Covid safe as is possible whilst accepting the only 100% safe thing is for us all to stay in hiding under the table and never leave the house again.

There is no winning here as I'm sure the same people would be causing merry hell when the Estate needed government bailing out to keep going or closed down and lost all the jobs and support to the local economy.
 
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Perhaps even a better idea would have been to scratch the walk through totally for this holiday season? Scratch anything that would serve to draw crowds of any size.

I agree. It might seem harsh but so is spending your last moments on earth in an intensive care unit unable to breathe without assistance and unable to say any final words to your family and loved ones because they cannot visit you. This is a cruel disease and I think very harsh decisions need to be made in order to stem the spread to other people. There are plenty of ways to keep yourself and your children entertained without having to go out and mix with other groups of people. In my opinion, if even one life is saved because a Christmas walk is cancelled, it is more than worth it.
 
If the attraction was not allowed it would not have happened, it is permitted so went ahead. Simple as. The estate is setting an example - of how other employers and businesses can adjust to be as Covid safe as is possible whilst accepting the only 100% safe thing is for us all to stay in hiding under the table and never leave the house again.
Agreed the attraction would have had to have been approved by local authorities months ago to be open to the public. As the director pointed out, they'd already revamped the displays to reduce touch points due to changing COVID restrictions.



I live in and close to Southern California's theme park central which includes Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. We've lost billions in revenue just from the parks and thousands of park employees have been laid off. The ripple effect is continues through all of the industries that support the Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland Parks, Knott's Berry Farm, Universal Studios, The San Diego Wild Animal Park, Sea World etc.. Some were able to make some adjustments and open for food related events but most have not seen a visitor since early March.



If Luminate can provide a safe opportunity and needed employment, I can understand why the attraction would have received approval.
 
Tommy, you're speaking to a person from a State which for months had the harshest lockdown ever seen but which managed to eliminate Coronavirus from Victoria. And in spite of recent events in NSW, Australians have kept our numbers of active cases very low throughout this year. New Years Eve fireworks are still banned in 2021 in spite of that. Nothing like the Sandringham display which would definitely attract huge numbers of families would be allowed here, still.

And I can assure you that people here would be just as keen to go out as they apparently are at Sandringham. People just have to grasp the nettle and not mingle or this thing will just continue on for another six months.
 
Well we aren't talking about what rules apply to where you are Curryong but what rules apply to the area this attraction was in, thats all we can judge against. In the UK all 4 constituent countries have vastly different rules so adding rules in different states in Australia into the mix is making it unnecessarily complicated and does not really make any difference.

Was the attraction within the law of the area it was in? YES

Why make it any more complicated than that just to prove a point.
 
I know Australia's record of attacking Covid is irrelevant to what happened in Norfolk, though perhaps it shouldn't be.

However, the point is that it's not Australia that is criticising the Cambridge/Wessex attendance at this event but the British media and some of the British public, who have pointed out that rules on mingling/social distancing were broken. It can't and shouldn't be swept under the carpet. This is not acceptable during a pandemic. That should be as clear as eggs!
 
We can't all be perfect all the time and accidents happen I guess. Some people seem to have such high standards of behaviour.

I wonder if the Wessexes are going to spend the whole of Christmas at Sandringham. Would be nice for them.
 
I am sorry to tell you this, but you are the only ones making a fuss.
 
Who's 'You'? The British media certainly made points about this in several articles, and trawled SM to show some more people who didn't approve either.
 
I went to a similar light festival here last week, held in a public park which is vital for the local community and has already lost a vast amount of money this year due to summertime concerts being scrapped and the cafes having to close for 3 months. People were asked to try to keep 2 metres apart. But some people walk more quickly than others. Some people spend longer than others looking at particular displays. Some people stop to take photos, tie shoelaces, stop kids from whingeing, or whatever. People don't walk through in an orderly, military fashion, so groups do overlap sometimes.


I really don't see that it needs to be the headlines of a newspaper. But it was only one newspaper.
 
Who's 'You'? The British media certainly made points about this in several articles, and trawled SM to show some more people who didn't approve either.

I should have said this thread,
I was not directing the comment to an individual poster. SM, IMO does not represent a country and people will pick on whatever individual they do not like, from any walk of life.

The Daily Mail ran this first, but I know this is not usually a popular newspaper on this forum.
It was a one day story. The real point being that the rules are so confused everybody gets mixed up and inadvertently makes mistakes.
Each tier has different rules, sometimes youngsters do not count, sometimes they do.
As for social distancing try Morrison's or Sainsbury's.
 
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[......]

I don't think it's that big of a deal that perhaps the Wessexes and the Cambridges were too close at times. They've all shown that they adhere to the guidelines since the pandemic started. If anything, those of us that complain about their "goof up" and even those that aren't complaining, have had a "reminder" that guidelines are still very much out there and we should follow them for our own health and the health of others. ?
 
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I don't think it's that big of a deal that perhaps the Wessexes and the Cambridges were too close at times. They've all shown that they adhere to the guidelines since the pandemic started. If anything, those of us that complain about their "goof up" and even those that aren't complaining, have had a "reminder" that guidelines are still very much out there and we should follow them for our own health and the health of others. ?

You are right, life of a certain type still goes on.
I think there is also the point that has been made before that you cannot always judge from a photograph.
 
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I’m not thrilled with this person (who clearly was wanted to be close enough to get good photos) ratting out their Royals, either. Frankly, that ticks me off. I think the C’s and W’s should have done a better job, but I’m not angry with them or all “how dare they” - I have no doubt they didn’t have bad intentions. That said, I still think this wasn’t organized as well as it could have been.

"Ratting out"? :ermm: They're adult royals disregarding restrictions that the whole country is severely affected by. It doesn't exactly take rocket science to work out that that's gonna rub people the wrong way and as such, it shouldn't be be difficult for the Cambridges and Wessexes to work out that obviously people weren't gonna stay quiet about it. If the royals don't care to follow the restrictions, why should their plebs?

[.....] Yes, you can argue that a such attraction shouldn't even be open in the middle of a pandemic. But it is and the Cambridges and Wessexes decided to go. That is what that is on both parts but the least they could do was to follow the rules. It's not bloody difficult to not meet up.

And if they must break the restrictions (which they don't), as public figures – someone people are mean to look up to – at least they could've done it behind closed doors. It takes a special kind of ignorance to stomp out to a public attraction, clearly a party of 9, when the restrictions unequivocally say 6 people (including children) or less. There's no excusing this unless your argument is that they're somehow too dense to count to 6 (which it seems pretty obvious to me that none of them are).

I don't think it's that big of a deal that perhaps the Wessexes and the Cambridges were too close at times. They've all shown that they adhere to the guidelines since the pandemic started. If anything, those of us that complain about their "goof up" and even those that aren't complaining, have had a "reminder" that guidelines are still very much out there and we should follow them for our own health and the health of others. ?

For a royal blunder to become a reminder for everyone else, the royals in question would have to actually acknowledge that they made a mistake which, to the best of my knowledge, the Cambridges and Wessexes haven't. On the contrary, courtiers are still trying to argue that they were there as two separate parties and that they kept their distance which is evidently not the case :rolleyes:
 
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"Ratting out"? :ermm: They're adult royals disregarding restrictions that the whole country is severely affected by. It doesn't exactly take rocket science to work out that that's gonna rub people the wrong way and as such, it shouldn't be be difficult for the Cambridges and Wessexes to work out that obviously people weren't gonna stay quiet about it. If the royals don't care to follow the restrictions, why should their plebs?

[.....] Yes, you can argue that a such attraction shouldn't even be open in the middle of a pandemic. But it is and the Cambridges and Wessexes decided to go. That is what that is on both parts but the least they could do was to follow the rules. It's not bloody difficult to not meet up.

And if they must break the restrictions (which they don't), as public figures – someone people are mean to look up to – at least they could've done it behind closed doors. It takes a special kind of ignorance to stomp out to a public attraction, clearly a party of 9, when the restrictions unequivocally say 6 people (including children) or less. There's no excusing this unless your argument is that they're somehow too dense to count to 6 (which it seems pretty obvious to me that none of them are).

Thank you:flowers:

[.....] .....the whole 'bottle neck'. It has been reported both families went before the park opened. And they were scheduled 15 minutes apart. Those photos were taken near the end of their trip through the walk as at the start they were alone out there. It would not have been difficult for them to keep their distance from each other.

If they were Mr and Mrs Jane Doe and Mr and Mrs Mike Smith with their kids they would have faced a fine if they had been caught.


As for the people who took the photo 'clearly being too close'. Those photos were not closer then six feet. Even without taking into account who took them would have used zoom to get even closer to take them.

Maybe the two families should make a donation to a covid charity (the amount that most people would have got fined) to say 'We are not completely tone deaf, and we know we should be leading by example.'
 
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Well, this was last year, but it’s kind of about this year...and it’s such a wonderful thing...


The heirs to the throne came together with Queen Elizabeth II to bake some Christmas pudding in 2019 and they’re now giving it to military veterans to eat.

The sweet creations, which were handmade by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, have been delivered to veterans across the United Kingdom and the world as part of the Royal British Legion’s Together at Christmas initiative. The program helps bring holiday cheer to those to experience loneliness and isolation during this time of year.

...

On Tuesday morning, one of the recipients, Ethel, who was a nurse during World War II, spoke to “BBC Breakfast” about receiving the pudding, “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” she said. “Especially because last weekend was my 100th birthday.”

[

https://etcanada.com/news/727730/th...d-charles-last-year-are-finally-ready-to-eat/
 
:previous: There's a pretty significant difference between the two cases which is that Sturgeon actually owns up to and apologises for her mistake. I have yet to see any kind of accountability on the BRF's part. On the contrary, it seems their people are still trying to justify the meet-up.

Yep - I expect Sophie will be apologizing soon. She was the one who should have hung back with Edward and demonstrated to Louise and James to do the same.
 
Doesn't all of this (The Royals, Sturgeon, members own actions) just show how easy it is to break the rules even without meaning to? I know I have at times, not meaning to but these things happen sadly, but if people are trying to stay within the rules it means any breaking of the rules is at least relatively small and the whole point of the rules is to keep people safe.

Shall we get back to some Christmas cheer now?:whistling:
 
Doesn't all of this (The Royals, Sturgeon, members own actions) just show how easy it is to break the rules even without meaning to? I know I have at times, not meaning to but these things happen sadly, but if people are trying to stay within the rules it means any breaking of the rules is at least relatively small and the whole point of the rules is to keep people safe.

Shall we get back to some Christmas cheer now?:whistling:

I totally agree with you! Mistakes happens, unless you deliberately attended mass gathering like protests and raves.

Let's get on to Christmas!
 
Sorry I disagree. Royals and government officials have aides, advisors, and/or assistants to help them in this regard so that they can avoid "mistakes" or breaches.
There are paid people who advise the royals to for example tell the Cambridges abd Wessexes not to attend the light show on the same day out of concerns for it looking like they are violating the rule of six.

It's reckless behavior and the more frequently it happens it makes it seem that they feel like they are above the law.
 
Doesn't all of this (The Royals, Sturgeon, members own actions) just show how easy it is to break the rules even without meaning to? I know I have at times, not meaning to but these things happen sadly, but if people are trying to stay within the rules it means any breaking of the rules is at least relatively small and the whole point of the rules is to keep people safe.

Shall we get back to some Christmas cheer now?:whistling:

I posted something cheery, but everyone if ignored it ! I’ll post it again, lol..

My last word on the hot topic is that I still both families and the estate were at fault...but I’m not outraged about it because their intentions were not malicious. I do think the Cambridge’s and Wessexes should apologize, because it really is a bad look even if it was inadvertent.

I posted this earlier, but it got lost in the argument.

Well, this was last year, but it’s kind of about this year...and it’s such a wonderful thing...



The heirs to the throne came together with Queen Elizabeth II to bake some Christmas pudding in 2019 and they’re now giving it to military veterans to eat.

The sweet creations, which were handmade by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, have been delivered to veterans across the United Kingdom and the world as part of the Royal British Legion’s Together at Christmas initiative. The program helps bring holiday cheer to those to experience loneliness and isolation during this time of year.

...

On Tuesday morning, one of the recipients, Ethel, who was a nurse during World War II, spoke to “BBC Breakfast” about receiving the pudding, “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” she said. “Especially because last weekend was my 100th birthday.”


https://etcanada.com/news/727730/the...-ready-to-eat/
 
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