It’s my new favourite fact: Queen Victoria had a horse called Keith

Queen Victoria obviously loved Prince Albert very much but I do wonder, when it came to Christmas, whether she didn’t occasionally think: “Oh Albert, give it a rest.” Nobody could out-Christmas her husband. He was exhausting. He imported spruce firs from Germany, he built 12ft snowmen, he skated, he encouraged endless rounds of Christmas games (Blind Man’s Buff was a particular favourite, according to Elizabeth Longford’s biography of his wife), he made the gamekeeper dress up as St Nicholas to dole out gingerbread and apples to their multiple children. In short, he sounds exactly like the sort of husband who was into all the fun bits of Christmas (presents, food), but wouldn’t once unload the dishwasher or remember to feed the dog.

I discovered this week that the great

Christmas fetishist also had a sleigh made for his wife, and a replica has just gone on display in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. It was built by the Victorian coach company Hooper & Co in about 1844 and sketches of the process can be found in the Science Museum.

Albert, naturally, oversaw the design and the result was a vehicle that would not have disappointed Danny La Rue. A sleigh that could seat several people, it was lined with red velvet, painted red and gold and came with a fan of ostrich plumes stuck on the front of it. It was pulled by two horses wearing silver harnesses that tinkled with silver bells and driven by men in scarlet livery, although Queen Victoria’s diary notes that Albert often took the reins himself. Course he did. I bet he also refused to slow down when she sucked in her breath on a tight corner and insisted they listen to Radio 2.

She seems to have had a jolly enough time in it, however. “The sledge went delightfully… The bright blue sky and sunshine, together with the sound of the bells, had a very exhilarating effect,” wrote Victoria in the winter of 1845 after her natty new toy had been transported from Windsor to Brighton, where the family was staying. On this particular jaunt,

Festive fan: a litho (c. 1845) of Prince Albert driving Victoria in their sledge

she observed that the sleigh was pulled by two horses, called Keith and Kintore. This is my new favourite history fact: that Queen Victoria had a horse called Keith.

According to a nice lady I spoke to at the Royal Collection, the sleigh is tucked away for safety in the Royal Mews at Windsor, but I wonder whether it should be brought out again. Some say we’re in for a chilly winter and a sledge might come in handy if the weathermen are right. Plus, the Royal family could do with some good PR. Yes, Harry and Meghan motored to their wedding reception in an electric Jaguar, but then they rather ruined it by skipping about Europe in private jets. Why not dust off the ostrich feathers?

I have a further and entirely selfish reason for suggesting this, and that is my family is going to be in Norfolk for Christmas. On the day itself, Mum and I are planning to join the crowds at Sandringham watching HM and her family head to church and, in the past few weeks, she and I have had roughly 94 phone conversations about what time we’ll need to get up to bag a “good spot”. Is it too much to ask that the Queen slides to church in her great-great-grandmother’s sleigh? That would certainly make the 6am start worth it.