King Charles to Axe ‘Nightmare’ Christmas Day Tradition That Princess Diana Always Hated
Families around the world who celebrate Christmas have their own unique traditions, and this includes Britain’s royal family. Some of their traditions involve opening presents and gag gifts on Christmas Eve, attending a church service on Christmas morning, and enjoying a turkey feast with all of the trimmings.
The royal family also has a dress code for the holiday, which requires them to change into several different outfits. Therefore, the clothes the public sees them sporting at church are not the clothes they wear all day.
Here’s more on that and how King Charles is tweaking the royal rule this year.
Princess Diana was never a fan of the numerous outfit changes
Paul Burrell began working for the royal family at 18 when he served as Queen Elizabeth II’s personal footman. In 1987, he moved to the household of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana. When the couple separated, Burrell served as Diana’s butler until her death.
He previously discussed the royals’ Christmas outfit changing protocol during the program A Very Royal Christmas: Sandringham Secrets. Burrell revealed, “You get up in one thing, then you have to change for church. You might change for lunch. You might then change to go for a walk in the afternoon. And then you will change for dinner.”
Another one of Princess Diana’s confidants, journalist Richard Kay, explained why the holiday-changing rule wasn’t easy for her to “adjust to.” Kay shared that not being able to sit in one outfit very long and having to keep changing so much was “exhausting” for the princess. He added that it wasn’t just Diana. Her former sister-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, didn’t like it either.
“It can be quite exhausting,” Kay said (per Express). “It was one of the unbending rituals that both Princess Diana and [Fergie] found quite hard to adjust to.”
King Charles has decided to shake up the rule about the family’s Christmas attire
However, a welcome change is reportedly coming.
“It used to be a nightmare going to Sandringham because there used to be so many outfit changes, sometimes up to six a day,” an insider told Vanity Fair, before adding, “The king has relaxed that. There won’t be so many changes, but everyone will wear black tie at Christmas dinner.”
As for which royals will celebrate with the family in Sandringham this year, that remains to be seen. According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, “Invitations went out months ago, and we do know the king loves a big family Christmas. Sandringham is smaller than the other palaces, and so it’s always a bit of a squash, but it’s always fun and very Christmas-y, and very family-focused.”
Traditions that will remain include attending Christmas Day service, the family watching the king’s speech on TV together at 3 p.m. local time, and a Boxing Day shoot on Dec. 26 at Sandringham, which was originally built as a shooting estate.
