00:04The Royal family is steeped in tradition and the way they spend Christmas is no
00:09exception. Year after year the Royals return to Sandringham to spend the
00:14holiday season. The Queen has always associated Sandringham with Christmas.
00:19It's where she spent most of her childhood and apart from a brief period
00:24where the Royals went to Windsor for Christmas they have always gone to
00:29Sandringham for the first period and continue up until today.
00:32For the Royals the Christmas period officially begins with the Queen's yearly
00:36train journey to Norfolk.
00:38The Queen takes the commuter train from London King's Cross to King's Lynn just
00:46like any other person that would be going up for Christmas to see their family and
00:52in the days leading up to Christmas Day she often attends a Women's Institute meeting.
00:57Every year the Royals actually exchange Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.
01:03Their staff set out trestle tables with all the presents on it and the members of the
01:07Royal family come in and exchange gifts. There's also a tradition of buying each
01:11other a jokey present. For Meghan's first Christmas she reportedly got the Queen a
01:17singing toy hamster which unfortunately the Corgis ended up mauling.
01:22The morning church service at St Mary Magdalene's gives us the chance to see the Royal family
01:27out in force.
01:28And on Christmas Day the Royals do the walk to church where they greet members of the public
01:34followed by a traditional Christmas lunch and in the afternoon there's usually a walk
01:40before the Royals come back to Sandringham House and all settle down to watch the Queen's speech.
01:45Watched by millions of us the Queen's Christmas message is a well-loved tradition that stretches
01:51back almost 90 years.
01:53In 1932 King George V the Queen's grandfather was convinced by the founder of the BBC John Reif
02:01to send a message across the wireless at Christmas time and he reluctantly agreed
02:08and that became the birth of the monarch's Christmas message. His son King George VI then followed suit
02:17and 11 months after his death the Queen gave her first Christmas broadcast in 1952.
02:26Television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day.
02:33My own family often gather round to watch television as they are at this moment and that is how I
02:41imagine
02:42you now.
02:43She's often mentioned special moments in her year for example 2018 was the year that she saw two of her
02:52grandchildren get married Princess Eugenie and Prince Harry and there was also the birth of two great
02:58grandchildren Prince Louis and Lena Tindall. Just like any other family the Royals have their traditions
03:05and in turn one of their traditions has become ours. Every year most families after Christmas lunch settle
03:12down to watch the Queen's speech and it wouldn't be the same without it.
Comments