Royal life
Royal expert Jennie Bond tells us what will be going on at Sandringham this Christmas
If I asked you to conjure up a picture of King Charles, what would it be?
Mine would be of him chatting (probably with a total stranger in the crowd), making a joke (undoubtedly a rather corny one) – and pointing in jest as, chortling, he rocks back on his heels. Charles is a man with an unsophisticated, absurd sense of humour, like The Goons. He wants to put people at their ease and finds that laughter always helps.
And that’s one reason why Christmas for the Royal Family under his reign is likely to be a slightly more relaxed and boisterous affair than in the time of the late Queen.
Light-hearted fun
Not that Queen Elizabeth suffered from a sense of humour bypass: she thoroughly enjoyed the daft gifts the family traditionally exchange on Christmas Eve… the more useless, the better. She was said to have loved a plastic, singing sea bass given to her once by Prince Harry. And both she and Charles saw the funny side of a whiteleather loo seat gifted to him by his sister, Princess Anne.
That tradition of outdoing one another by giving silly presents will continue. Indeed, the King has already shown that he’s in no hurry to make radical changes to the way his mother ran the royal ship. It’s just that because Queen Elizabeth was held in such awe, even by her own family, the celebrations hosted by Charles and Camilla might seem more informal and free-flowing.
Celebrating together
This year – the second with Charles at the helm – the family will gather again at Sandringham. The King has made it clear that, although he wants a leaner core group of working royals, the extended family will always be welcome under his roof. And that’s why his siblings and their families, his nephews and nieces, along with Camilla’s children and grandchildren, will all be invited.
Eyebrows might be raised that Prince Andrew is included, but he has consistently been invited to family gatherings like this, in spite of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And it would be churlish to exclude his ex-wife and ‘bestest friend’ Sarah, especially when she is still recovering from breast cancer. Besides which, Sarah is good fun; a vibrant addition to any party, and it would be heartless to separate her from her daughters and grandchildren at Christmas.
The elephant in the room… or rather, very much not in the room – will, of course, be Prince Har
