British Royal Christmas 1: 2008-2021

[Osipi]

I had to have a bit of a chuckle seeing David leaving the BP Christmas lunch on a bicycle. It just flashed through my mind how the Queen Mother used to love getting into David's fast car and racing through the streets of London.

I sincerely don't picture the Queen Mother with David on a bicycle built for two at all.

 

[sophie25]

I think the Queen is really big on 'family' in the sense of family including not just her own children and their families but her beloved neice, nephew and cousins and their families too. I think she loved hosting everyone at Windsor Castle back in the day and that is why she loves having this lunch every year. It means that the extended family still get to enjoy Christmas lunch with her and everyone gets a lovely gift, as the footage from the 2004 broadcast shows. It must be a magical day for the children in particular as the Palace is wonderfully decorated with Christmas trees and they all get to play together and no doubt discuss what they've asked Santa to bring them.

 

[Madame Verseau]

Beatrice came to the lunch without Edo. The claim is the fiancé status. How does that hold up when Meghan attended as Harry's fiancée two years ago?

 

[Osipi]

For starters, we don't know that Edo wasn't invited to attend the Christmas lunch with Beatrice. It very well could have been that Edo had his own prior commitments he just couldn't get out of to attend. ?

 

[Lumutqueen]

We have our first Christmas Card: The Cambridges!
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/1...look_at_the_Cambridge_-a-44_1576680237898.jpg

Beatrice came to the lunch without Edo. The claim is the fiancé status. How does that hold up when Meghan attended as Harry's fiancée two years ago?

Entirely different circumstances considering Edo has family in the UK and Meghan does not.

did we see Princess Eugenie and JB?

Not sighted, though that doesn't mean they weren't there just that they weren't pictured. That said, if they didn't attend I wonder if that makes it more likely they will both be at Sandringham next week.

Yes they attended:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/18/15/22406246-7805673-image-a-40_1576682193793.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

I honestly think that if the two older Cambridge children join their parents and relatives going to church on Christmas morning, it will be more for the reason for the season than being a PR stunt, a diversion for the public away from Andrew or anything else relating to the press or public. They're going to church for Christmas service and that, I believe, is the main focus.

Osipi, I agree with you 100%. Prince George and Princess Charlotte are going to a worship service, the most important one in the Church's religious year.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Osipi, I agree with you 100%. Prince George and Princess Charlotte are going to a worship service, the most important one in the Church's religious year.

Easter is far more important in Christianity than Christmas ,but where children are concerned Christmas is a far more joyous occasion to attend church.

 

[Fijiro]

Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the most important Christian celebration -
.

 

[Osipi]

The point I was trying to make is that when you have children in a Christian household, their attendance and instruction and worship as a family is important no matter what "importance" the service is on the liturgical calendar.

My parents started me going to Mass on Sunday mornings before I started kindergarten. Not to say I was always the perfect angel but I was there.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Nice to see the photos of the family; particularly the extended royals who we wouldn't see much of otherwise. Lady Louise looks lovely with her straightened hair and she looks more like Sophie here. I always thought she had such strong Windsor features but I'm starting to see some resemblance from the maternal side of her family. Louis is cute and looks exactly like George did at that age IMO - George really looks like William (especially around the eyes) and Charlotte like Catherine here IMO.
Funny to see David on a bike. He seems to be a keen city bike rider, I remember seeing photos of him taking Margarita to school on a bike when she was younger.

 

[ladongas]

Louis strongly resembles some Royal as a small child but I can’t place just who? A very young Andrew maybe? Anyway. George is taking this all very seriously isn't he? Adorable!

I think Louis looks rather like his great great grandfather (George VI) did as a boy, and also like his great great grand uncle(?), Edward VIII.

 

[TLLK]

My guess is between the protection officers and nannies they are going to be using 2 cars (or more!) from now on.


LaRae

I agree. Also the protection officers probably want a vehicle that can have everyone evacuated as quickly as possible or for the RPOs to enter/exit in a speedy fashion. A mini van with third row seats might not be the vehicle of choice.

The point I was trying to make is that when you have children in a Christian household, their attendance and instruction and worship as a family is important no matter what "importance" the service is on the liturgical calendar.

My parents started me going to Mass on Sunday mornings before I started kindergarten. Not to say I was always the perfect angel but I was there.

And if you take them early, most people are pretty understanding that children make noise and get squirmy.

 

[tommy100]

I think the Queen probably quite likes having these two Christmas, this one for her extended family including those family members who still work for her as such, a nice way to thank them for their service and wish them festive greetings, then a slightly smaller more core family Christmas for her more immediate family.

I wonder if the Queen buys everyone there a present, just imagine all that wrapping lol.

 

[Somebody]

Entirely different circumstances considering Edo has family in the UK and Meghan does not.

For Christmas day I would agree, for the Christmas luncheon on a normal weekday not so much.

And I loved Charlotte's cheeky face upon arrival. She seemed it little tired when they left; so I assume they had a great Christmas party inside.

 

[Leopoldine]

Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones is lovely looking! Very pretty.

 

[camelot23ca]

Charlotte really does transform completely into The Queen whenever she looks serious. Especially in the photo that catches her in profile in the back of the car. All she needs is the iconic purse and a couple of corgis.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

Beatrice came to the lunch without Edo. The claim is the fiancé status. How does that hold up when Meghan attended as Harry's fiancée two years ago?

Has there been a statement from a royal source that Edo will not be allowed at this event until he is married, or is it speculation from the general public?

 

[tommy100]

Its still a normal working day in the UK so maybe he couldn't leave work or maybe he had prior commitments. I doubt he was unwelcome and there is more than certainly a good reason why he couldn't be there.

 

[Somebody]

Its still a normal working day in the UK so maybe he couldn't leave work or maybe he had prior commitments. I doubt he was unwelcome and there is more than certainly a good reason why he couldn't be there.

Nonetheless, if this is the first time the queen/your grandmother-to-be invites you to the Christmas luncheon at the Palace it seems most other commitments would be deemed less important; so if he had been invited I would have expected him to attend... Somehow all the others (that are present; and that includes lots of family members with normal day jobs - many at a management level) seem to be able to prioritize this event.

 

[Fijiro]

We didn't see Peter and Autumn Phillips and family.

 

[sophie25]

We didn't see Peter and Autumn Phillips and family.

No and I think they would have been photographed if they had been as there were loads of pics of everyone else.

 

[miss whirley]

Nonetheless, if this is the first time the queen/your grandmother-to-be invites you to the Christmas luncheon at the Palace it seems most other commitments would be deemed less important; so if he had been invited I would have expected him to attend... Somehow all the others (that are present; and that includes lots of family members with normal day jobs - many at a management level) seem to be able to prioritize this event.

Maybe he wasn't invited. It made sense for someone like Meghan to go because she didn't know most of Harry's family, having just a short-term long-distance courtship. So this would of been a means of introduction. But Edo has been in the York family circle for decades so he probably already knows most of the family.

Or he was invited but didn't go. Maybe this happened for a few reasons. Edo and Beatrice had their engagement party the same day so maybe he was left overseeing the last minute details while Beatrice went to the lunch. Or he decided that the first time he wants to go the lunch he should have his son with him, but with the Yorks under the microscope right now he probably wants to keep Wolfie away until the media had settled down.

 

[tommy100]

Yes the Queen has invited him, but maybe she has invited him to Sandringham as well in which case there is perhaps less need to attend. No offence I’m sure no one was crying because he wasn’t there, Beatrice and the more immediate family will see him soon and the Gloucesters and Kents aren't exactly close family. William and Harry both missed Christmas’ at Sandringham due to work commitments and no one thought there was a snub on either theirs or the Queen's part. Yes the Queen is important but she is also said to be kind and understanding so as long as he has politely declined I bet HM is fine with it.

 

[miss whirley]

Yes the Queen has invited him, but maybe she has invited him to Sandringham as well in which case there is perhaps less need to attend. No offence I’m sure no one was crying because he wasn’t there, Beatrice and the more immediate family will see him soon and the Gloucesters and Kents aren't exactly close family. William and Harry both missed Christmas’ at Sandringham due to work commitments and no one thought there was a snub on either theirs or the Queen's part. Yes the Queen is important but she is also said to be kind and understanding so as long as he has politely declined I bet HM is fine with it.

Well, some of the Kents saw him really soon. Since Lady Gabriella and Tom were at their engagement party the same night.

 

[Osipi]

Maybe, just maybe, HM, The Queen views her Christmas lunch for the extended family and her Christmas celebrations and get together at Sandringham more along the lines of what most people deem their celebrations to be. Personal invitations to attend with the option of declining the invitation via a RSVP and does not view it as a "command to attend" where to refuse an invitation would be a definite snub to the Queen. When the Queen hosts her family events, she's not hosting as the Queen but rather as Aunt Lilibet, Granny, Gan-Gan, Mother and Mama and Mum.

I think those of us that watch the royal goings on put too much into who goes and who doesn't and what the implications are behind it. Rumors start and gossip floats and relationships that we know absolutely nothing about really are put under a microscope and dissected and analyzed and put back together like a jigsaw puzzle with a whole lot of missing pieces.

There's a little bit of the Daily Mail in all of us from time to time. Its sometimes fun in a discussion to come up with our own thoughts of why things are the way they are. Like with Edo's non attendance at the lunch. Was he invited or not? Did he decline the invitation because of something else he needed to do? Did he get upset that Wolfie wasn't invited? Who knows? We sure don't. Only the family members really know and they're not talking.

 

[tommy100]

Completely agree about bit of DM being in all of us. Just from this one lunch we've had all sorts of suggestions about why the Cambridges came in two cars and why Edo wasn't there. I'm sure in both cases the reasons given here are 100% more interesting than the real reasons.

 

[sophie25]

Well, some of the Kents saw him really soon. Since Lady Gabriella and Tom were at their engagement party the same night.

Yes, and he and Beatrice attended Gabriella's wedding and her evening reception.

 

[Countessmeout]

The point I was trying to make is that when you have children in a Christian household, their attendance and instruction and worship as a family is important no matter what "importance" the service is on the liturgical calendar.

My parents started me going to Mass on Sunday mornings before I started kindergarten. Not to say I was always the perfect angel but I was there.

Kids go to our church all ages. But that doesn't mean they are at mass. Babies usually are in the nursery from the start. Older kids join their parents for the first few minutes then the priest sends them off with the Sunday school teacher. I wish my grandmother had allowed us to when we went to church as little kids. We would have learned more. Kids get bored and don't understand the adult mass. Sunday school is geared more towards little kids and teaches them the bible ways they can understand. And parents can focus on adult mass. Me and my sister got so bored we played hangman behind my grandmas back.

George is old enough. Might still be bit bored but likely can handle it. Six weeks a general age for the royals. Charlotte might be a bit young.

Attending Christmas with the Middletons is very different. It's more private and they are just normal kids there. With the queen and church they will be expected to be on best behaviour. The walk might be a lot for them as well. George has in the past shown he is not very comfortable with attention and there will be a lot for the walk. Charlotte is less shy.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Even if he had shown up the lunch party I would have been very surprised if Edo had brought along his toddler son. He and Beatrice are not even married yet!

And even though the little boy will obviously be part of Edo and Beatrice's family along with any children that they have on their own, I don't think it is likely that Wolfie will be seen regularly at BRF events like Trooping, the Christmas church appearance, etc.

 

[QueenMathilde]

I'm kind of glad the sussexes aren't there this year. Nothing against them but they probably need the break and they do tend to dominate when they are there. All the pictures are of them and no one else.