In 2024, the Royal Family will hold its biggest Christmas dinner yet, with 45 expected guests attending the event at Sandringham. Many British people often wonder what it is actually like to have a seat at the table, to spend time with members of the elite family and to see them interact with each other. Well, sharing Christmas with the Royals may not be as quiet and peaceful as one would think.
Discover our latest podcast
Just like every family, they argue from time to time, and the end-of-year celebrations seem to be the perfect time and place to settle matters once and for all. From banned board games to dog fights, the Firm has been through many controversies around this time of the year, and we have selected a few to share with you today.
Royal Christmases saw the usual family feuds
Prince Edward and King Charles fighting over bedrooms
Over the years, one argument was never settled between then-Prince Charles and Prince Edward. It has been reported that the two brothers would always get into fights over who would get the biggest bedroom, as many normal siblings do. However, one slight difference is the house they chose from. Sandringham includes about 29 bedrooms, and over 100 rooms to choose from. King Charles and Prince Edward did not stop fighting over time as they got older and more mature, oh no. In 1999, the then-Prince Charles was told he would have to give up the room in favour of Prince Edward, who had just got married to Sophie, now the Duchess of Edinburgh. The future King, who had divorced Princess Diana a few years earlier, in 1996, did not need the extra room as it was mostly intended to host a couple.
This change did not go down well with the Prince, as he is said to have been 'furious' but what the Queen said was the rule. King Charles happily regained his favourite bedroom in 2005, when he married his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Monopoly is now banned in the family
Most families enjoy playing board games during their yearly gatherings. Such was also the case for the Royal Family, but one game is said to have brought out the worst competitiveness out of them. Indeed, their games of Monopoly are believed to have been so competitive, that it had to be banned by the late Queen from the Royal Family's Christmas celebrations. Prince Andrew let the information slip back in 2008, when he was gifted a box of Monopoly while visiting Leeds Building Society's headquarters. He had to decline the present, as he explained he was 'not allowed to play Monopoly at home'. He went on to say that the family's games got 'too vicious'.
Prince William and Kate Middleton reacted to claims of their competitiveness in 2023, when they appeared on Mike Tindall's podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby. One of the hosts said:
I'm not going to lie...but Mike has made out both of you are super, super competitive, a bit like Monica from Friends, and if you guys play table tennis it will go on for hours and hours, and be like, double or quits.
To which the couple answered they did not think they were extremely competitive, but they have never managed to finish a game of tennis as neither of them wanted to give way to the other.
Princess Diana was shocked by one Christmas tradition
The late Princess Diana is said to have 'hated' spending Christmas with the family at Sandringham, for one reason in particular. According to royal biographer Andrew Morton, the Princess did not feel comfortable during the family celebrations, but there was one tradition that left her absolutely 'mortified'. In 1981, Princess Diana spent her first Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham, and she had brought 'thoughtful and expensive gifts', according to Vanity Fair. However, she was not aware that the family has a tradition of giving each other jokes instead, and she was horrified when Princess Anne gifted her a toilet roll holder.
The Princess was left mortified, as she had spent time and money picking out gifts, despite suffering from morning sickness while she was pregnant with Prince William. According to the Mirror, Princess Diana reportedly told Andrew Norton:
It was highly fraught. I know I gave, but I can’t remember being a receiver. Isn’t that awful?
I do all the presents, and Charles signs the cards. [It was] terrifying and so disappointing. No boisterous behaviour, lots of tension, silly behaviour, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood.
Most families have their fair shares of feuds, fights over rooms, disappointment over silly traditions, but a few of the Royal Family's Christmases have also been marked by tragic events.
Some celebrations were tainted by tragedy
Princess Anne's dog killed the Queen's corgi
It is common information that the late Queen absolutely adored her dogs, which were all Corgis.
One dog in particular was said to be the Queen's favourite, Pharos. However, his life was brutally cut short just a day shy of Christmas in 2003, as he was savaged to death by Princess Anne's bull terrier, Florence. The dog attacked the Queen's favourite within moments of arriving at the Sandringham estate, and the fight ended in the death of Pharos. One aide told the Daily Mail:
It was an incredibly distressing sight. There was blood everywhere. The poor corgi was howling and there was nothing HM or the princess could do to get the terrier off. It sank its teeth in and shook the corgi around.
The Queen was reportedly extremely 'shocked, upset and saddened' by the brutal death of her favourite dog, and the celebrations were cut short as no one was in the mood.
1992 was an annus horribilis
The Royal Family has had to endure several challenges over the years, but 1992 was probably the most difficult year for all of them. Queen Elizabeth herself described the year as annus horribilis during a famous speech. Indeed, that same year, Windsor Castle was severely damaged by a massive fire, which is said to have broken the Queen's heart. Around the same time, two royal couples announced their separation.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson split up a while before Christmas, but only a fortnight between the family celebration, then-Prime Minister John Major announced to the House of Commons that Prince Charles and Princess Diana were also going their separate ways.
These sad news are said to have put a glum light on the end-of-year celebrations, especially as Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were missing from the family event. Christmas lunch only lasted an hour that year.
Read more:
King Charles: Everyone who attended his Christmas lunch, and the royals that missed out
Prince William reveals his Christmas plans and it involves 45 guests, who’s on the list?
Prince Harry and Meghan: Lady Diana's family have invited the Sussexes for Christmas, source claims
Sources used:
Daily Mail: Inside the biggest royal rows at Christmas: From banned board games to dog fights as 45 family members descend on Sandringham this year for the biggest-ever annual festivities
Express: Princess Diana ‘hated’ Christmas at Sandringham and was left ‘mortified’ by one tradition
Daily Mail: Anne's dog kills Queen's corgi
Vanity Fair: Why Princess Diana Hated Christmas With The Windsors
