A royal misconception

Who really introduced Christmas trees to England?

Ask anyone who introduced the Christmas tree to England and most will say Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort. However, this is one of the most common misconceptions associated with festive season. In fact, it was actually Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III, who brought the first known Christmas tree to England a good four decades before Albert.

Christmas trees were a part of Charlotte’s life from her native Mecklenburg-strelitz. She brought many of her German traditions with her when she married George in 1761, turning Christmas into a far more public affair than it had been. Her first Christmas tree, installed in 1800 at Queen’s Lodge, Windsor, was nothing short of magical to all those that beheld it. Decorated with tinsel, sweets and candles, it sparked a new trend among the English nobility. Even Queen Victoria was said to have enjoyed Christmas trees during her childhood, which quite clearly points to the fact her husband was not responsible for bringing them to England.

So why does the story go that it was Prince Albert who introduced the tree in December 1840? Well, at this point Christmas trees were only common among the upper classes. When the periodicals such as the Illustrated London News began to print pictures of Victoria, Albert and the royal family gathered around their Christmas tree, the trend soon spread like wildfire across the country.

Albert certainly encouraged the development of Christmas trees as a popular tradition in England, which is why he has become so synonymous with them. As it turns out, though, it was still a German who brought Christmas trees to England — we have the Georgians to thank for the introduction and the Victorians for its popularity.