A Traditional Royal Christmas

royal chritmas card

A Very Merry Christmas Card from the Royal Family

All families have their own Christmas traditions. Whether it’s baking gingerbread cookies, taking part in carol singing or simply getting together to watch your favourite holiday movies.

But have you ever wondered how the Royal family celebrate the lead up to Christmas?

Read on to hear some of the better known Royal family Christmas traditions. You can learn more about the secretive ones on London Magical Tours’ award winning London Christmas Lights Tours.

 

Present exchange

When do the Royal Family exchange gifts? Clue: It’s not Christmas Day!

One of the most famous Royal family traditions was introduced by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. In line with German tradition, the Royal family actually exchange their gifts on the 24th of December, Christmas Eve. The gifts are then laid out on tables for each family member to open after tea time (that’s after dinner for our non-UK cousins).

 

church

Christmas Day service – At Sandringham

The monarch traditionally spends Christmas at the residence known as Sandringham, a countryside estate in Norfolk. The invited Royal family members visiting that year are then given an allocated time to arrive at Sandringham: the youngest member arrives first and the eldest member last. Once everyone has arrived, the final touches are put on the Christmas tree, a tradition also made popular by Prince Albert.

 

king charles christmas speech

The Kings Christmas Speech. Credit BBC

Christmas Day begins with the Sandringham Christmas Day service, where the Royal family attend mass and step out of the St Mary Magdalene Church to greet the public.

To conclude Christmas Day, King Charles will continue the tradition of broadcasting a speech to the country and across the Commonwealth. As the speech is pre-recorded, the royal family will watch it together after their Christmas lunch. In previous years this has include prawns or lobster for starters, a turkey with all the trimmings as the main course – and Christmas pudding with brandy for dessert.

 

For more information on London Magical Tours’ luxury London tours,  as well as this year’s Christmas tours, visit the London Magical Tours website: https://www.londonmagicaltours.com

 


Christmas Tours Are Back!

Like young children awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus on a wintery December morning, everyone at London Magical Tours is bursting with excitement at the start of our annual Christmas tours!

As the only tour company to focus purely on the beauty of the Christmas season in the greatest city on earth, we are proud to continue our annual tradition of sharing the best of the holiday season, during what is undoubtedly the most wonderful time of the year.

Preparations for this year’s tours started back in January and are now in full swing as we get ready to welcome visitors from across the globe. We can’t wait to show you all the new additions:

Christmas London Tours 2012

Exclusively to London Magical Tours, come and discover the best of the holiday lights: from the bright displays in Piccadilly, Regent and Oxford Street, to lesser known traditional decorations across the capital.

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