Will the royals go to Sandringham for Christmas this year?

[2anddone]

Just watching Channel 5's 2017 Sandringham: The Queen at Christmas (don't judge me I am at home with Covid!)
I love local to Sandringham and didn't realise how much input the Queen had into the Christmas traditions (choosing stocking items etc) and then staying until her ascension day in February. Just made me wonder if now the Royal Family have lost their matriarch will it be similar to so many other families Christmas once the matriarch has passed and will they now do their own thing at Christmas? I imagine Kate might like a day with her own parents or Sophie with hers or those with younger children might want to stay in their own homes

So closer in ages to Edward and Sophie. Maybe they will still go along, their youngest not much older than Edwards Louise.

Hopefully Camilla’s children will be invited to attend.

Their Christmas sounds hell no time to relax several changes off clothes bloody charades again , no time to just chill out.I’d rather be me.

We always spend Christmas Day with my family. Have never spent it with dhs. Dhs Sil likes to spend it with her family. Dhs BIL with his so sil has MIL & her inlaws.

But we spend Christmas Eve with them as it’s sil birthday & Dhs DN on New Year’s Eve so always with them for New year & New Year’s Day.

Boxing Day is dc birthday so both families come to us with my sister’s MIL as she is on her own otherwise.

It’s all about compromise.

It's now privately rented out by the Crown Estate.

Balmoral is not and never has been part of the Crown Estate.

It's now privately rented out by the Crown Estate.

It's located on the Balmoral estate so it's highly unlikely it's rented by a deserving local or indeed any other pleb.

If it's home to Balmoral staff there's no reason not to say so but as ever the details are shrouded in royal secrecy.

The castle and the bulk of the estate is owned privately.

Crown Estates do own, and rent out, some properties around the periphery of the estate (bearing in mind that the border of the estate owned by the royals has changed and increased over the years).

Friend works for the royal household - Sandringham has a skeleton staff for most of the year and they move in others from the palace and Windsor. Like my friend, a lot of these are single, and happy to work there. She doesn’t tell me a lot, but said that Christmas is lovely there - lots of people coming and going, and over excited kids running around. Members of the family drop off treats or chocolate down to the kitchen or staff rooms too. The Queen used to have friends as well as family staying over, all the way through until she returned to the palace or Windsor.

The Balmoral estate was bought by Prince Albert and has remained in the personal possession of the Monarch since then. Normally it is bequeathed by one monarch to the next monarch.

when Edward VIII abdicated, it took some time (and some rather delicate negotiations) for the sale to his brother, George VI.

Sandringham is the same - it was bought for Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales And was left to Edward VIII

you can view the legal history of transfers of the Balmoral Estate by going to RoS.gov.uk

Is it an annual summons for everyone to go to Sandringham for Christmas, or more of an open invitation? Do some royals like the York girls alternate with spending the day with their mother/in laws, Zara with the Tindalls etc?

And if you look at the boundaries of the estate when Albert bought it and the boundaries today you’ll see they’re very different.

The estate has been expanded over the years.

I assume the crown estate properties on the periphery were bought when they came up for security reasons.

And if you look at the boundaries of the estate when Albert bought it and the boundaries today you’ll see they’re very different

oh, I thought it was still in Sasines. It definitely was last time I did some work on it.

It’s quite a bit bigger now than it used to be.

The ownership of properties and other estates around the peripheries are also interesting.

I assume security was part of the reason for Crown Estates and the likes buying things.

That’s a lot of searching the GRS.
costly and time-consuming, especially if you have to get extracts and copy deeds from The Dome.

do you do this professionally? We might know one another in RL.

Sorry, meant Dup Plans, not extracts!

I think it’s a casual drop in – “stop by if you fancy, we’ll have picky bits from Marks on the go all day” and it’s just coincidence they’re all there for the formal, dressed-up walk to church.

There is a timetable of what happens during the day. Google and you will find lots of articles. It is not a picky bits drop-in but a clear timetable of what happens throughout the day.
The children eat in the nursery and only the adults eat together.

At what age do the children graduate to the adult table?

Or did William, Harry, the Philips and the Yorks all sit in the nursery until they were in their 20s because it was more fun - away from the stuffy adults 🤣

Ah the fun imaging someone else's Christmas Dinner.

I believe William and Kate have done some Christmases with the Middletons and some at Sandringham since they were married; they've also had some of her family staying with them at Amner Hall and then when they are based there it's easy to pop over to Sandringham for certain meals, church parade, present exchange etc. Their children see the Middletons a lot. And presumably spend time with their cousins, Pippa's kids - think her eldest is about Louis's age.

@Dinoteeth I have wondered too when they graduate to the adults table.

@TheMadGardener I thought only the Cambridges spend Christmas at a time with the in-laws, but I may be wrong. Certainly in the press, a big deal was made of this as if it was not the norm. Beatrice and Eugenie spent every Christmas as children at Sandringham leaving Sarah by herself in a nearby cottage. That always seemed awful to me and is supposed to have been at Philips's insistence. So the two girls did not alternate Christmas.

I know that the royal family traditionally exchanges Christmas gifts and celebrate at Christmas Eve, which is the custom in Germany (and most of mainland Europe) and of course the royal family descend from the Germans.

(I may be wrong but afaik Prince Albert began the tradition from his homeland of having a Christmas tree indoors in the which then became popular with the rest of the British population).

I would imagine that Camilla and Catherine grew up celebrating with the gifts being exchanged and the main meal on Christmas Day as is the custom in the UK. I wonder if this will change now that we have a new King? OTOH they might enjoy getting to celebrate twice….with the rest of the royal family and again with their own ‘blood’ families.

I imagine they'd still do Santa for the kids. Carrots 🥕 and 🥛 or maybe something stronger. 🤔

The adults are supposed to exchange presents with only the adults present.

In terms of carrots for reindeer or anything similar that may be done in individual nuclear families, but is not part of Sandringham day. Sandringham day seems very old-fashioned and very focused on the adults.

Presumably the Yorks did Christmas eve / morning in the cottage. Hence Fergie had dinner for 1.

But did the Wales's and Philips not stay in the big house together? Did they do Christmas morning separately?