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

 


HRH Prince George is a fan!

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Catherine, were most grateful to receive the first copy of the official My London Magical Tours A to Z Guide by children’s author Ana Cartland. We hope Baby George will enjoy learning the stories that make London such a special city to live and visit.



Make sure to receive a copy on your next visit to London with London Magical Tours. Books can also be ordered separately for delivery to the UK, USA, Canada and countries within the European Union by completing the online order form:

My London Magical A To Z Guide Book Order Form

W is for Westminster

W is for Westminster – learn the history of London with your children

Interested in hearing what our young visitors to London thought of their trip with their My London Magical A To Z Guidebook? Find out by watching the video comments below:




My London Magical A to Z Guide – Children’s Guidebook to London

We are delighted to announce the publishing of London Magical Tours’ very own guidebook for children:

My London Magical A To Z Guide

My London Magical A To Z Guide

My London Magical A to Z Guide is the perfect accompaniment to our excursions for all family visits, allowing children to follow the landmarks on their tour through a blend of drawings and clever anecdotes.

Covering many of the famous sites such as Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, the book also helps young visitors to awaken an interest in London life by introducing central figures like the Monarch and the Prime Minister.

As can be seen in the examples below, every one of the beautiful hand drawn illustrations has been inspired by the artwork of children who take part in our London tours on a daily basis from all corners of the globe:

W is for Westminster

W is for Westminster

Printed in luxurious hardback form, My London Magical A to Z Guide makes a beautiful souvenir, a memento for every child to customise with their name and date of their London visit to forever be reminded of their sightseeing experience.

Continue reading


A Magical Christmas in ‘Amazing London’

Here at London Magical Tours nothing makes us happier than hearing how much you enjoyed your tour with us. We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone and share one of our favourite letters to Santa Claus that was filled out as part of our London Christmas Tours.

We would like to wish everyone a Magical Christmas and very happy 2015!

Dear Santa Claus,

The bestest thing I have seen in amazing London today was beautiful Buckingham Palace. I chose beautiful Buckingham Palace because it was fun seeing the solgers do there march and seeing the special flag on top of the beautiful buckingham palace. My most favourite part was seeing the lovely horses taking a carafe on the back. I loved seeing amazing London!

Gemma (7 years old on a London Christmas Tour with her family from Wangara, Australia)

Santa Claus Letter


Children’s London Art Competition 2014

We receive so many fantastic drawings from children on our tours to London and this month we would like to share the talented illustrations of our younger artists Harry and Jake Sargood from Australia (ages 10 and 11) on their visit to the Tower of London.

Children are encouraged to draw their favourite parts of London and the very best will be featured on the London Magical Tours Blog and entered as finalists, with the winners receiving a special prize in time for Christmas 2014.

Keep reading the blog for updates to see our young artist’s work throughout the year!

Click on me to see how tall I really am …

Harry Sargood Drawing

Jake Sargood Drawing