The Tiara Tantrums
War or peace?
Royal rumours may still be swirling about the frosty relationship between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, but temperatures seem to be thawing. The royal Christmas is already looking far less strained than had been billed after palace sources confirmed that the Cambridges and the Sussexes will spend Christmas together at Sandringham. If there was any doubt about their chumminess, Prince Charles would be able to lecture the Fab Four on the consequence of family friction given his difficult relationship with his parents, his brother Prince Andrew and most of all his ex-wife.
In this time of peace and goodwill, the couples are both expected to stay at Anmer Hall, William and Kate’s Norfolk bolt hole on the queen’s Sandringham estate, suggesting that any feud is fast fizzling out.
Kate, the rather shy, dutiful daughter of a close-knit, middle-class clan, was always likely to have differences with the extroverted US actress from a dysfunctional family, but relationships seem to be hunky-dory in the season of loving and giving.
An insider said: “Harry and Meghan really enjoyed staying at Anmer Hall last year, especially spending quality time with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and there’s no reason why they won’t want to do the same this year, especially as Meghan is going to be heavily pregnant.”
Another source said: “No one is going to be kicking up a fuss about Christmas. Both couples know how important it is to the queen and Prince Philip for the whole family to be together.
“Now they are in their 90s, the festivities tend to revolve around the queen and the duke spending as much time as possible with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
There is also a practical reason why the Sussexes may want to spend a second year running with Kate and William: space. Sandringham House is small by royal standards and its quarters are said to be “cramped”, with sources likening Christmas guests to being “packed in like sardines”. With more than 30 attendees this year, thanks to many of the younger royals starting their own families, some will be told they have to share bedrooms, move to cottages on the estate or even sleep in servants’ quarters.
Much like the Victorian splendour of the house itself, the traditions of the royal Christmas have changed little since Sandringham first became the private home of Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, in 1862. First, guests are told what time they should arrive at Sandringham — most junior royals first, most senior last — with everyone expected to be changed into suitable outfits for afternoon tea in the “white” drawing room at 4pm. The queen then invites her great-grandchildren to add the final decorations to the Christmas tree as the royals enjoy home-baked scones and a cup of Earl Grey.
This is the moment they also exchange presents — not on Christmas Day, which the queen regards as a religious festival. Trestle tables are laid out in the nearby “red” drawing room, with sections marked off with tape showing where each family member’s gifts should be placed — again, in order of precedence. Joke gifts, and the cheaper the better, are the order of the day — as Princess Diana learnt to her peril when she arrived at her first Sandringham Christmas armed with expensive cashmere jumpers. —
Despite all the gossip about a royal spat, the duchesses look ready to kiss and make up