Charlotte will surely be sitting on everyone’s knee
appearance on the previous Sunday at a service at Anmer Church, near the couple’s newly-renovated family home Anmer Hall, not far from Sandringham.
But what of this year? Will George and Charlotte steal the show – and what will her first Christmas be like for the baby Princess?
Many traditions are kept by the Royal Family and things run to quite a schedule, but last year William and Kate opted out of some of the arrangements by having their own Christmas dinner with the Middletons.
This year might well follow a similar pattern but one thing is certain – Charlotte is going to be dazzled by the lights and baubles on the Christmas tree and will be sitting on just about everyone’s knee at some stage, probably including that of her brother who dotes on her.
The Royal great-grandmother will get her share of time with George and Charlotte, of course. Christmas is always a very special time for the family. The Queen likes to take part in decorating the Christmas tree – although most of it is done by the staff. Traditionally the Queen adds the last strands of tinsel.
The Royal Family’s present time comes after tea on Christmas Eve. They troop into the drawing room and in front of the tree, the wrapped gifts have been placed on tables with their names in front of each pile. Each member of the family in turn collects his or her pile of presents and unwraps them in view of everyone else.
This is the real Christmas fun time. The gifts for the older members of the family are usually fairly simple and often selected for novelty rather than need. The younger members tend to have a little more cash spent on them and have been known to unwrap a small gift which turns out to be a set of car keys!
Having said that, they also compete fiercely to see who can give the cheapest, tackiest gift. Prince Harry famously once gave the Queen a bath hat with “Ain’t life a bitch?” on it. He