The late Queen upturned royal tradition to make Meghan Markle feel welcome in the family – before the Sussexes had even tied the knot. The royals’ Christmas celebrations were historically limited to members of the Firm or married partners. As such, neither Princess Kate nor Duchess Sophie spent Christmas Day at Sandringham with their in-laws until after they had tied the knot. But Meghan was invited to join in the festivities in 2017, some five months before her wedding.
It was an unprecedented move from the Queen. According to royal reporter Richard Eden: “Courtiers say the Queen believed that Meghan – a divorced, mixed-race American actress – would be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the Monarchy. “The Queen fast-tracked her entry into the Royal Family, inviting Meghan to join her at a service to mark Commonwealth Day – her first official engagement with the Queen – two months before the wedding. It was another clear indication that Her Majesty valued Meghan and wanted her to be seen as a part of the family without delay.”
A short time after the 2017 Christmas gathering, Prince Harry told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “The family loved having her there. There’s always that family part of Christmas [where] there’s always that work element there as well, and I think together we had an amazing time. We had great fun staying with my brother and sister-in-law and running round with the kids. Christmas was fantastic.”
Asked if there were any family traditions that had to be explained to his partner, Prince Harry divulged: “Oh plenty, I think we’ve got one of the biggest families that I know of, and every family is complex as well. No look, she’s done an absolutely amazing job. She’s getting in there and it’s the family I suppose that she’s never had.”
Meghan, meanwhile, opened up about her first Christmas with the royals in the couple’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, and revealed she had been seated next to Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip,
“At dinner, I was sat next to H’s grandfather and I just thought it was so wonderful and I was like, ‘Oh we chatted and it was so great and I talked about this and talked about this’,” she said.
Meghan further described: “I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham, calling my mom, and she’s like ‘How’s it going?’ and I said ‘Oh my gosh it’s amazing’. It’s just like a big family like I always wanted. And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun.”
The Sussexes have not celebrated Christmas in the UK since 2018, when Meghan was pregnant with their first child Archie.
In 2019, they spent the festive period in Canada during an extended break from their royal duties – just weeks before announcing their decision to step back as senior royals. They now live in Montecito, California and are all but estranged from the royal family.
