The royal family does things their own way, including when it comes to Christmas decorations. Traditionally, people take down their festive decorations on the 12th day of Christmas – around January 5th – but during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the Windsors are believed to have left their decorations up for an extra month until she returned to Buckingham Palace.
The roots of this tradition have a sad history. On February 6, 1952, Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died in Sandringham – the monarch’s 8,000-hectare private estate in Norfolk – at the age of just 56.
Elizabeth, then 25 years old, was on a royal tour abroad with Philip and never expected to ascend the throne so early in adulthood.
Later that year, after her father died, Elizabeth, as the new monarch, wrote in a letter about the loss: “It still seems so incredible that my father is no longer here, and only after some time does one begin to realise how much he is missed.”
For most of her reign, Queen Elizabeth spent the festive season with her family at Sandringham, taking an extended holiday there until the anniversary of her father’s death. The royals usually spent the New Year period enjoying outdoor activities such as shooting and horse riding, as well as attending church.
Whether King Charles will continue this tradition remains to be seen, but over the past few decades the royals have enjoyed their Christmas decorations for much longer than the rest of us, ignoring the superstition that leaving them up after the twelfth day of Christmas is bad luck.
The Christmas trees in the state rooms of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace are always impressive: up to six meters high and richly decorated.
However, it is said that the festive decorations at Sandringham are a little more understated and that the royals add the finishing touches themselves when they arrive for their family celebration on Christmas Eve.
In the Victorian era, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, helped popularize the use of Christmas trees, which first arrived in Britain under Queen Charlotte.
Since putting up trees during the German Christmas season has always been a tradition, this trend quickly spread throughout the country thanks to Albert’s enthusiasm and, of course, continues to this day.
So if your holiday decorations stay up a little longer than January 5th, you’re in good company.
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