What Does The Queen Do?

Yes, HRM Queen Elizabeth definitely celebrates Christmas and does so with a certain flair! According to Yahoo Lifestyle Insider, these are some of the traditions she follows.

1. The Queen attends the same Christmas Day church service every year

The royal family always attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene, before returning to Her Majesty’s Sandringham Estate, where they stay during the holiday period. 

However, there are some aspects of the tradition that the Queen does not follow. According to Cooling: “Historically, Christmas Day was one of the few occasions when the monarch would wear a crown to attend a church service.” 

2. The monarch even decorates the Christmas tree herself

“Prince Albert is often credited with having introduced the Christmas tree to Britain from Germany following his marriage to Queen Victoria in 1840,” Cooling writes.

“However, Christmas trees had been part of royal festive celebrations since the late 18th century, when the first Christmas trees were set up by Queen Charlotte, consort of George III.”

Cooling added that our current Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the family have made it a tradition to “put the finishing touches to their Christmas tree themselves.”

3. The Queen and Prince Philip also present schools in Sandringham with Christmas trees

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert usually donated a number of trees to local schools, and this is something that has been carried on by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to this day. 

Her Majesty also presents trees to Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and to St Giles’s Cathedral and the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.

4. Her Majesty gives 1,500 Christmas puddings from Fortnum and Mason to her staff each year

The Queen and Prince Philip present an estimated 1,500 Christmas puddings to staff throughout the palaces, the Court Post Office and palace police every year, the royal family’s website states.

According to Cooling, the festive treats are provided by the London department store Fortnum and Mason. You can buy the same pudding from the store here.

This was a tradition started by Queen Victoria, who had her chefs make more than 100 puddings to be delivered to her closest relatives throughout the late 1880s. 

5. The annual Christmas broadcast has been made by the royal family since 1932

Her Majesty delivers a speech to the nation on Christmas Day each year, and this is something that was started by King George V in 1932.

This is a tradition that the monarch has only broken from once throughout her reign, in 1969 when the documentary “Royal Family” aired instead. 

The public were so concerned with the break in tradition that Her Majesty had to issue a statement to reassure them that the broadcast would return the following year, according to Cooling.

6. The Christmas dinner menu rarely changes

According to Cooling, the Queen, Prince Philip, and their relatives are just like any other family and favor traditional turkey for Christmas dinner.

“The rise in popularity of turkey during the later nineteenth century can be attributed to the future Edward VII, for whom it was a personal favorite,” she writes.

“It was among the principal dishes served at a lavish banquet hosted by the then Prince of Wales on Christmas Day 1875 aboard HMS Serpis, moored in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). In the early twentieth century, turkey became the centerpiece of the Christmas meal, supplied for the royal table by one of the Sandringham Estate farms, a tradition which continues today.”

7. The Queen and Prince Philip send out 750 Christmas cards every year

Some of the earliest royal Christmas cards still in the archives today were actually made by Queen Victoria’s children, to be given to their parents, family, and palace staff throughout the 1850s and 1860s. 

Queen Victoria would send cards with portraits of herself and her family on them, and this is something continued on by Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family to this day.

8. The Queen receives a sprig of Holy Thorn from the garden of St. John the Baptist church in Glastonbury

“The tree is known as the Holy Thorn because it blooms twice a year, in both the spring, close to the time of Easter, and in midwinter, around Christmas,” Cooling writes. “An ancient legend connects the thorn with Joseph of Arimathea and the arrival of Christianity in Britain.”

However, there is one tradition that the royal family no longer follows.

In the 11th century it was tradition for the monarch to attend the annual Feast of the Epiphany at St James’s Palace to mark the end of the Christmas festivities and the beginning of the new year.

There, the monarch would present an offering of gold, frankincense and myrrh “in commemoration of the gifts given by the Magi to the infant Jesus,” according to Cooling.

However, since the royal family now celebrate Christmas in Sandringham, today’s offerings are made by two of the Queen’s Gentlemen Ushers on Her Majesty’s behalf.

Enjoy the Holidays!