Inside The Royal Diary: An Exclusive Look At The British Royal Family’s Calendar – Hw
From coronations and christenings to trooping the color, the British royal family have a reputation for celebrating in style. >> Only the British can do it this way >> and I’m proud to be British. >> I think it’s what this country is all about. We’re great at pageantry and we’ve got to enjoy it.
>> Many royal occasions come with centuries of convention and strict guidelines to follow. all kinds of rituals, traditions, precedents, but there’s always room for the personal touch. >> You can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance and abundance. >> And whenever Britain’s first family do throw a party, the world watches.
>> There is a global appetite for the pomp and the pageantry that the royals do quite simply better than anyone else. This is the royal guide to stately celebrations and how to make them majestic. >> >> The royals know how to celebrate. From January to December, the royal diary is full to overflowing.
But when you’re in the line of succession, there are traditions to uphold and rules to follow. So, how do the royal family mark the big occasions on the calendar? The royals do like to celebrate and the queen enjoys a party. The queen has said during her reign, I have to be seen to be believed.
And I think what she has done is she’s used occasions to be seen by her public. So I think there is a sense that when the royals choose to celebrate, it does become a national moment for celebration. The most majestic celebration of them all is one only a few of us have witnessed. The crowning glory, the coronation. The coronation is by far and away the most important, most ritualistic ceremony in the life of any sovereign.
taking place at Westminster Abbey. All kinds of rituals, traditions, precedents um have seen monarchs crowned over the ages, dating back to before William the Conqueror in 1066. In 1937, just months after her uncle’s abdication, the then 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth watched on as her father was crowned King George V 6.
16 years later, after her father’s sudden death, it was her turn. >> Contrary to what a lot of people believe, our queen became monarch the moment her father died, which was on the 6th of February, 1952. Her coronation did not take place until the 2nd of June the following year, 1953. But she was already queen.
She was 27 at coronation, a young woman, but one already dedicated to the role. The crowning is the monarch’s contract between the crown and the people, between the crown and the church. At the heart of the coronation is the anointing where the monarch has oil, holy oil placed upon them. And the idea is at that point that God sanctifies them and they become other really set above us mere mortals.
So there is this sense of being divinely sanctioned, divinely appointed, divinely blessed. And so special is that moment that traditionally it would be screened off so those that were gathered in the abbey wouldn’t see it. Despite that customary discretion, there were more eyes on Elizabeth in 1953 than at any previous coronation.
Until then, only a select few were able to witness the event. This time it was seen on television sets around the globe. Prince Phillip, in fact, was one of the architects behind the plan to televise the coronation. And at the time, it was quite controversial because it was seen as so special that would it kind of downplay it and and become sort of a a popular soap opera occasion.
And it was really the thing that marked the birth of television. So many people went and got television sets in order to watch the coronation. The coronation was viewed by 27 million people in the United Kingdom. But we did more than just watch it on TV. Still recovering from the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain finally had something to celebrate.
The entire country hung out the bunting and got ready to party. Coronation Fever got hold of everybody really. Stands had been built along the processional route for people to buy tickets and take their places to watch the processions and to be a part of it. I’m old enough to remember the coronation of 1953 and the procession through the streets of London.
Hundreds of thousands of people turn out. The weather on coronation day was awful. But yes, we were there. We watched it and it was terrific. There was such a buzz. It was such an excitement. >> After the public fanfare, the Queen hosted a private dinner with guests from around the globe. A menu was created just for the occasion.
>> There were all sorts of, you know, coronation trifles, coronation puddings, and we know it so well even today, coronation chicken. >> An instant hit at the time. It has recently lost some of its glamour, but the royals still love it. And it’s a favorite with former royal chef Des Sweeney.
The perfect dish for a royal shindig. It can be whipped up in minutes on an almost industrial scale. Um, it’s actually very straightforward. So, poach a couple of chicken breasts, season those with some nice curry powder, which I done yesterday. salt, pepper, some mayonnaise, and that’s it. That’s coronation chicken.
So, that can be used in a salad, which often used to be the case, in a canope or in a sandwich selection for the afternoon tea. This simplicity means that although it was originally served in a sumptuous banquet hall, it has since become an alresco favorite of the royal family. When they was at Balmoral, they’d have a picnic outside.
So, this would always go out. Very popular. Very easy to eat when you’re like sitting on the back of a Land Rover. From the banquet to the picnic blanket, a royal classic. It may have been a while since we’ve had a coronation to commemorate, but there is no shortage of heirs waiting in the wings, and the arrival of each is a cause for celebration.
>> >> The announcement of a royal baby is always quite a big deal and it’s a huge deal when it happens to be an heir. It’s a moment to celebrate and recognize the continuity of the monarchy. For most new royal arrivals today, the life of pomp and pageantry begins at the Lindo wing of St.
Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London. Giving birth here is as fresh as the newborns in their royal mother’s arms. Traditionally, royal births took place at home. Queen Victoria was born in the dining room of Kensington Palace, the Queen at her maternal grandparents home in London, and she had her own children at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.
>> The idea of a hospital birth is a relatively new phenomenon. that moment of presenting their baby to the world and that has become a tradition for the royal family and you know is in quite a contrast to the queen and the births of her children which were much more private affairs. Princess Anne set the trend.
She was the first to choose a Lindo wing where she gave birth to her son Peter in 1977 and her daughter Zara in 1981. Before leaving, the princess stopped to thank the midwives and staff. Captain Phillips hidden behind the nurses, lent forward, and gave his daughter a rather beused smile. And once Anne had paved the way, Diana cemented the tradition in 1982.
William was the first heir to the throne to be presented on the now famous steps. >> Have much longer to wait. Less than two days after arriving here, Prince, Princess, and Baby Prince emerged to the cheers of the crowd. They’d said thank you to the staff with photographs of themselves.
The prince organized his wife and son into the car and then, beaming proudly, set off for home. >> The president set. William found himself back on those same steps 31 years later. along with his wife Catherine, he presented their firstborn son, Prince George, third in line to the throne. Once a new addition to the royal household has been officially announced, it’s time to plan for the child’s first big event, the christristening.
Given that the queen is head of the Church of England and the royal family therefore are a Christian family, christenings are really important. They’re the first right of passage and the first kind of official outing of any new royal baby. Traditionally, they’re a private family affair.
More recently, they’ve become a little bit more public, although they’re not televised. However, there is no set tradition as to where a royal offspring should be christened. They took place in private chapels, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sanjingham or in the music room at Buckingham Palace, which is where the Queen was christened.
And in 2013, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had baby George christened at the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace, which had been the resting place of his grandmother, Princess Diana, before her funeral in 1997. Even though the locations have varied, there are two constants that have been around since the 1840s and the christristenings of Queen Victoria’s children.
The leaf font is the traditional royal christening font that’s uh normally kept in the Tower of London and then is moved to uh the christining venue. It’s gilded gold. It’s a very special ornate object. And it’s filled with the christening water. And traditionally that water came from the river Jordan. And there’s something else that’s been part of the royal christenings for nearly two centuries.
The Honington robe is a family christining gown that was made for Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, in 1840. And it passed down through generations of royal children. 62 royal children wore it over 163 years. And the last one to wear it was Louise, the eldest daughter of Prince Edward, at which point it started to fall into a state of disrepair.
But not to worry, new arrivals are still able to dawn the traditional royal threads on their special day. The queen decided that she would get a replica made from her dress maker, Angela Kelly, and it’s been worn ever since. >> >> So, it’s a really important symbol of the royal family. >> The young royals have been known to be environmentally conscious, but even so, that is some impressive recycling.
And it doesn’t stop there. One of the traditions that goes alongside a royal christening is that the top layer of the wedding cake is never eaten on the day of the wedding. It is put aside and carefully stored so that it can be brought out and served and eaten on the christristening. Traditionally the top tier or a few top tiers um if it is multiple are kept for a future christristening.
>> Cake maker to the royals Fiona Kes created William and Kate’s wedding cake in 2011. We were involved with the christristenings of all of the three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louie. And Fiona’s top tip, if you wish to rule out the top tiers at your very own regal christening, >> fruit cake does keep a long time.
Often, if I’m asked, I will say it’s quite a good idea to freeze a fruit cake, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be, but it won’t keep for years and years and years. It seems the only thing newer to royal christristening is a little one themselves. They will have their work cut out for them in the years ahead.
For all members of the royal family, there’s a whole diary of celebrations to attend from January right the way through to December. Throughout the year, the royal calendar is bursting with all kinds of events, ceremonies, and celebrations to attend. And it all kicks off in January as we welcome in the new year with investigures.
>> Every year there’s the New Year’s honors and the birthday honors list. And this is where people are nominated for knighthoods, damehoods, all the way down to OB, CBE, so on and so forth for all sorts of reasons, charitable, cultural, for the roles that they’ve played within their own particular fields. >> It’s purely ceremonial today, but this ancient tradition stretches back to the Normans when a knighthood came with a few responsibilities.
Knighting and the knights are an old Shivalick tradition that the monarch used to create knights really for religious service in particular or charitable service. So going back to the time of the crusades, knights would protect pilgrims going to the holy land and over the centuries they became a mark of royal favor.
Honors were traditionally reserved for the aristocracy and highranking military. But the Queen’s grandfather, George V, changed all that and created the Order of the British Empire to reward civilians who had done their bit in World War I. >> >> The Queen has continued this tradition and today lists of MBEs, OBE’s and other awards are announced twice a year for personal bravery, outstanding achievements and services to the realm, including broadcasts, sport, and music.
>> Fresh from an audience with the queen, they hold medals indicating they have been made members of the most excellent order of the British Empire. >> The most famous of the honors is still a knighthood. For this, the recipient kneels on an investature stool. The queen makes knights by the sword which she inherited from her father.
She carries out investatures carrying on the traditional ceremonial practice of age-old monarchs. She would dorb the knight on his shoulder with the sword. Once given the honor, the recipient can use the title sir or dame like lockdown hero Captain Sir Tom Moore knited in 2020. Never never ever did I imagine that I should get so close to the queen and have such a kind message from her.
That was really outstanding. It really was truly outstanding. One person who knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of an investature is model and actress Ununice. She was awarded an MBE by Prince Charles in 2017. >> The best thing was going to Buckingham Palace and getting to take my mom and my family which was pretty awesome.
It is absolutely mind-blowing. And you kind of go through these, of course, very opulent, very ostentatious, >> >> um, amazing doors and you go inside and you’re there with the other delegates. And then there’s this guy who comes in and he kind of tells you, okay, this is what you have to do when you go into the room.
This is how you have to walk and this is how you have to kind of curtsy and stuff. >> Former royal butler Grant Harold has helped many a guest make a good first impression when coming face to face with royalty. Here’s his advice on how to perfect the bow and curtsy for that once-in-a-lifetime moment. If you watch any kind of old movies, you’ll see that the gentleman used to do a bow from the waist and the ladies would do the cutsy.
And when it comes to the royal family, for a man, he wouldn’t do a bow from the waist any longer cuz that’s classed as a theatrical bow, which you see performers do. But if I met a royal and I was going to acknowledge them, all I do is my hands go to the side, feet together, and just nod my head. As simple as that. I think if you wear to suddenly kind of do a theatrical bow, it can be a little bit much, can’t it? For a lady, it’s a little bit more tricky because obviously it comes down to balance. So, I have said to ladies
that if you’re uncomfortable doing a cutscene, of course, you can do the neck bow, but if you want to try the cutsy, then it’s hands to the side, right foot behind the left if that is your stronger leg. Obviously, depends what you’re comfortable with. And then you do a little bob down and back up. That just as much as that.
What you don’t do is don’t try to do this because you can look like a bone 747. And the other thing can go wrong is if you try to go too low, you could end up going right down and you’re not going to come back up. >> So after a practice in private, it’s time for the real thing. >> Then of course, you basically got to do the most grand catwalk you’ve ever seen.
And if you make it to the end of the catwalk without tripping up, then you’ve got to negotiate the half curtsy as well as the two-step forward and back. I was like a bit unsure when I was doing it if I was doing it right and how it looked, but my mom said I did a good job. After the New Year’s honors, as winter turns to spring, the senior royals are kept busy with plenty of events to attend.
The next big one on the royal calendar is Holy Week and Easter. At a special service on Monday, Thursday, the day before Good Friday, the Queen distributes special coins known as Monday money to pensioners. It’s a symbol of generosity from the monarch to the people and developed from a tradition in the Middle Ages of the king washing the feet of beggars just as Jesus did.
By the 18th century, feet washing had been replaced with cash. >> >> The Easter weekend itself is spent at Windsor with family and the Queen attends a service at St. George’s Chapel on Easter Sunday. >> In May, it’s time for the monarch to dawn the official threads for the next big event. It’s the state opening of Parliament.
The Queen famously stays neutral when it comes to politics. However, as head of state, it’s her job to attend the ceremonial opening of Parliament at Westminster, and it calls for just as much fancy dress and fancy footwork as you might imagine. The state open of Parliament is the official beginning of the parliamentary year.
It’s when the monarch arrives to open Parliament and deliver the speech, the Queen’s speech. It’s setting out the government’s business for the year. >> The day is one of the few occasions for which the state crown is removed from the Tower of London. The Queen enters the Houses of Parliament by the sovereigns entrance and the royal staircase.
Tradition dictates that this is the only route the Queen is allowed to use to enter the House of Lords. She goes into the robing room to put on her robes, processes to the House of Lords, and then her representative in the House of Lords, Black Rod, goes to the Commons and summons it to attend the Queen in the House of Lords.
But dating back to the Civil War, the battle between the monarchy and Parliament during the reign of Charles I as a symbol of the Commons independence from the monarchy. Now when Black Rod knocks on the door of the Commons, the door is sort of shut in his face. >> Close the door. >> And on the third time, eventually the Commons then process to the Lords.
Once everyone has assembled, the Queen delivers the Queen’s speech, setting out the government’s business for the year ahead. Of course, it’s a speech that’s been written by the government and then read out by the monarch. So, it’s not her words. >> This is my government’s second legislative program. Like the first, it will focus upon the modernization of the country, its institutions, its public services, and its economy.
>> It’s important to open parliament. It’s very much part of the active political year now, but it’s based on traditions that date back over the centuries. With Parliament up and running, the royal household turns to the next major event in the calendar, the second Saturday in June, the Queen’s birthday. Well, one of them.
The Queen of course celebrates her birthday twice in the year. She celebrates her birthday on the 21st of April, which is the actual date of her birth, but she also celebrates it on a national scale. Having an official birthday for the reigning monarch dates back to 1748, when George II decided he didn’t like having a birthday in cold, damp November.
In the way that only a monarch can, he chose to have another birthday in the summer. So for the past 270 years, all British sovereigns have celebrated their official birthday in June. And the occasion is marked by a ceremony, the grandest of them all, trooping the color. It officially celebrates the birthday of the monarch.
And it really is the most magnificent military spectacle. >> It grew out of a sense of a military parade, troop in the color, the military colors. It’s a march past of all the military bands, military guards. During the procession, the regimental flag or color is paraded down the ranks of its troops. This is a tradition that dates back to the 17th century when the colors were trooped in front of soldiers in battle every day to ensure each one could recognize the flag of his own regiment.
Traditionally, the queen has ridden out to inspect the troops on horseback. But for the last few years, she’s arrived by carriage. Taking place right on the doorstep of Buckingham Palace on horseguard’s parade. Thousands come to watch the queen receive a royal salute and then enjoy the spectacle as marching bands parade around the palace in the mal.
>> It’s a display of military pomp and pageantry. But it’s also an occasion when the royals get together as a family. And it’s a big ceremonial occasion which concludes with an RAF fly past as the royal family gather on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. For a new royal, this balcony appearance often marks their first step onto the public stage.
And for royal observers, the balcony always reveals some interesting moments. >> You want to be seeing the interaction between the royals. There’s kind of like a study of the body language on the balcony as well. Who’s talking to whom? The best balcony photographs have been taken particularly of the late Duke of Edinburgh making other members of the family laugh and people kind of roaring with laughter.
Trooping the color marks the midpoint of the royal year, but there are plenty more celebrations still to come. June can be a busy month. This is the time of year the royal household marks any significant anniversaries of the queen’s coronation with one of the biggest celebrations in the regal calendar, the royal jubilee.
A jubilee is the moment for the nation collectively to come together and to reflect on the reign of the monarch. Queen Victoria was very famous for her jubilees. Queen Victoria spent almost 64 years on the throne. To mark 50 years, her golden jubilee, she held a royal banquet at Buckingham Palace, followed by a procession through London, which was reported to stretch to the limit of sight in both directions.
She then became the first British monarch in history to celebrate 60 years, a diamond jubilee. But it’s our very own Queen Elizabeth II, who will be forever known for her jubilee celebrations. Our queen has achieved some very particular milestones. Silver Jubilee, Golden Jubilee, Diamond Jubilee, Sapphire Jubilee, now Platinum Jubilee with 70 years on the throne.
She’s the longest reigned monarch in British history, having superseded her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria. So these are all milestones in the Queen’s life that are significant and important. But the very fact that she’s reached a platinum jubilee is quite special because this absolutely has never happened before. >> The Queen’s Jubilees live long in the memory.
I remember her golden jubilee very clearly and I remember it coming at a time when the royal family had been through great difficulty. This was in 2002, so only five years after the death of Princess Diana, when certainly I think the idea of the nation getting behind and celebrating the royal family wasn’t necessarily a given.
But in fact, the crowds did turn out. They were there to support the queen. There was a lot of love, a lot of loyalty, and a sense of celebration for this monarch as she celebrated her golden jubilee. [cheering] 10 years later, it was bigger and better. That celebration back in 2012 was a very, very special moment for the country. It was a 4-day celebration.
Hundreds of thousands of people descended to London. This was a pageant of thousands of vessels sailing down the rivers with the queen aboard, the spirit of Chartwell with her family. And Britain hadn’t seen a celebration like this for many hundreds of years. Jubilee events are just the beginning. Like the rest of us, the royals make the most of the summer months.
In July, the Queen has a jam-packed calendar as she sets out to entertain around 30,000 guests over several days at both Buckingham Palace and Hollywood House in Edinburgh. at the garden parties. Every summer since the 60s, the 1860s in this case, the monarch has invited guests to royal garden parties.
These are a really important occasion for her. Um, it is a moment for her to meet members of the public, just regular members of the public whose service or contribution to their community the Queen wants to recognize. And the privilege really of being invited to Buckingham Palace to take tea with the Queen and nibble on cucumber sandwiches is a really special occasion for most people.
And I think if you’ve ever had the privilege of being invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden party, it’s certainly something that you will always remember. >> The guests gather on the lawn, whatever the weather, and when the band strikes up the national anthem, the queen makes her entrance. >> It’s a really wonderful atmosphere. There’s a great sense of expectation, of excitement before the members of the royal family appear.
And as they walk down the steps from the palace to go and greet guests on the lawn, it’s a it’s a really special moment. And it’s not often that you get to meet the queen. It’s not often that you get to have in some cases a conversation with the queen. There’s no casual mingling, though. The queen has a carefully choreographed route through the garden to ensure she gets to speak to as many of her guests as possible.
There are up to 8,000 at each event, all waiting in line for a chinwag. In the 1860s, Queen Victoria considered the garden parties to be exclusive events, open only to members of the upper classes. This changed in 1945 when the Queen’s father, King George V 6, invited servicemen and women after the Second World War.
Nowadays, this is an invite that any one of us could get our hands on. So, it’s essential to know how to make a good first impression. I always said people never offer a hand to me the raw farmer. They’ve got to offer their hand first and then you’ve then got to make sure you do the right kind of handshake.
fully open, fingers and thumb open. Then you wrap your fingers round their hand obviously, but not too tight because you don’t want to come across as overpowering or you’re not trying to arm wrestle the royal, god forbid. And at the same time, you don’t want it to be too limp if you can’t be bothered.
And then my favorite part is it’s two to three pumps. So that’s where you go one, two, three marks and then your hand returns to the side. What you’ve got to remember is out of the excitement and the nerves, don’t keep shaking the hand. You’re meeting a member of the royal family. You’re not pumping up a bicycle tire.
>> So don’t overpump and don’t overdress. >> Just wear what the dress code says. It’s not the time for high fashion. It’s not the time to start a new trend. If you do not look the part, you won’t feel the part and that will affect your general behavior and confidence. >> Perhaps you wouldn’t wear skyscraper heels cuz you just sink into the turf.
>> The solution, a wedged heel. >> I think both Megan and Kate have made wedges very popular amongst the younger royals. They are much more sensible on certain occasions because otherwise you do sink into the ground. >> For the men, it’s all about what’s on your arm. >> Something that always amuses me with adult male members of the royal family, all royal household when they are in morning dress, not for weddings, but for garden parties, uh sometimes is that they’ve got an umbrella, very tightly furled umbrella. And that’s sort
of a class marker for royal household. It makes no sense. But if you want sense, I wouldn’t necessarily uh deeply analyze royal protocol. >> But surely carrying an umbrella at a British summer garden party isn’t entirely in vain. When the summer comes to an end, so do the garden parties. And as the royals head into autumn, the official events come around less frequently, providing much needed space in the calendar for royal tours and private family celebrations, such as the Queen and Prince Philip’s wedding
anniversary. On November the 20th, 2020, the couple celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary. Sadly, it was to be their last. In 1997, Prince Phillip revealed the secret of their longlasting marriage. >> The main lesson that we’ve learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.
It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when things get difficult. And uh you can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance and abundance. Both parties brought something to the union as the queen revealed the following day. >> He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years.
And I and his whole family and this and many other countries owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know. As autumn slips into winter, attention turns to the final celebration in the calendar year, one of the most personal. Come December, it feels like the whole country gears up for the biggest celebration of the year, and the royal family are no exception.
at Christmas. [bell] >> Christmas is a huge thing for the royal family because in a way the the Christmas that we have today is thanks to the Queen’s ancestors, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. >> Many of the traditions which you associate with Christmas today actually go back to the royals, not least the Christmas tree which was introduced by Queen Charlotte, George III’s wife, who was German at the beginning of the 19th century.
and she decided that she wanted a Christmas tree. And that tradition alongside others was really embraced by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in particular. And Prince Alberta absolutely love Christmas trees and would have them at the royal residences. And there’s an engraving at the time which became quite famous which shows Queen Victoria and Albert and their children decorating the Christmas tree.
When this engraving went public in 1848, it sparked a craze that’s clogged up vacuum cleaners up and down the country ever since. Christmas trees are still the centerpiece of all the Christmas decorations across all the royal residences. A large tree is erected in Windsor Castle and Nordman furs are placed in the entrance to Buckingham Palace.
isn’t it? >> The Queen hosts many Christmas events at the palace, which in 2019 included making Christmas pudding with Prince George. The Queen really begins Christmas once she’s thrown her Christmas party for her staff, which has always been at Buckingham Palace. And then she gets on the train from London to Kingslin.
>> Every year the Queen travels to spend Christmas at Sandringham, her private estate in Norfolk. >> It’s now become a bit of a Christmas tradition. She will not go on the royal train. She will go on the 1049 from King’s Cross. And it’s a marvelous thing. You’re not going to be spending a lot of taxpayers money.
You’re just going to be on the ordinary train which is going to stop at Cambridge and various other interesting places across the fence on its way there. And yeah, they’ll clear first class for her and I think that’s entirely reasonable. >> And the rest of the family make their way to Norfolk, too. >> The Queen is very strict about Christmas.
She lets all the family to be together. Often certain members of the family have to stay in some of the guest houses and the outhouses on the Sandingham estate because there’s just not enough room in the main house. They arrive in a certain order and that is an order of seniority. So the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall should be the last people to arrive and then everyone is invited to join the queen for a drink and to hang a decoration on the Christmas tree.
Like any family, each of the royals has their favorite tipple. Prince Charles reputedly likes a cherry brandy while Harry and Wills drink the Sandringham cider produced from an apple orchard planted by their greatgrandfather King George V 6th. The queen however favors a zaza also known as a gin and dubonet. >> It’s quite sweet but it’s quite a refreshing and it’s quite a nice drink to have before your lunch or before your dinner.
And basically it’s gin and dubony which is a fortified wine infused with herbs. >> While the traditional recipe sees equal amounts of each ingredient, the queen goes easy on the gin. >> So it’s one/3 gin, two/3s to bonnie. The finishing touch, an orange twist or as her majesty prefers, a slice of lemon. >> Make sure there’s no pips in the lemon.
And finally, >> two ice cubes. And then you’re going to just give it a little stir. And there is a perfect jin dei effect for royalty. The festivities kick off with a Christmas Eve football match between the local village and royal staff. For many years, William and Harry used to have a traditional game of football in the afternoon on Christmas Eve um just up the road at Castle Rising from Sandringham.
>> And football isn’t the only unusual tradition the royals have on Christmas Eve. >> There are some traditions that happen for royal Christmases that perhaps maybe we as members of the public don’t follow. For example, they will open their gifts on Christmas Eve, which is more of a Germanic tradition, which of course goes back to some of the royal family’s origins.
>> But what do you get for the royal who has almost everything? >> They’re not necessarily sort of priceless diamonds or beautiful necklaces because let’s be honest, the royal family are very fortunate to have a lot of money, and if they did want to go and get something, they can. And so they use the Christmas present exchange almost as a bit of a competition as to who can give the tackiest or the funniest gift.
Supposedly, you’ve had William and Catherine many years ago gave Prince Harry a grow your own girlfriend kit when he was single. People give the queen a Billy Bass fish that sits on a plaque where you press it and the fish sort of wobbles on the plaque and sings a song. I think I read somewhere that Princess Diana apparently gave some really nice gift to somebody and then she was given a was a tea towel or something and that’s when she realized that that part of it more fun is more humorous.
>> A royal Christmas Eve is a real family affair. A chance for everyone to let their hair down before the more formal duties on Christmas Day. There’s a a local church just beside Sandrum, just across the the lawn actually from the back of the house. And um the queen is very strict about going to the church.
That’s when you see the royals greeting the well-wishes and it’s opportunity for everyone to kind of wish them a merry Christmas. >> It’s the perfect opportunity to get up close to your favorite royal. It’s all wrapped up. Put the break on. >> Are they frozen up? >> But if you’re keen to wish Prince Charles a happy Christmas, you better get in line.
>> After church, it’s back to Sandringham, where the royal chefs have been hard at work preparing the Christmas dinner. And what fancy delights await the royal family. >> This might come as a shock to everybody. It’s the same as everybody else’s in the country. It’s roast turkey with all the trimmings and then again the same as everybody else in the evening it’s a cold buffet.
No different to every house in the country. >> At 300 p.m. on Christmas Day around 6 million of us tune in to listen to the Queen. >> The Queen’s Christmas Day speech is really an opportunity for the nation to stop what they’re doing on Christmas Day, which as we all know is always busy and hectic and and foodfilled.
The Queen first addressed the nation via radio broadcast in 1952 and then 5 years later made her debut on television and at 300 p.m. in Sandringham. The scenes are similar to households across the country. >> Those members of the royal family who are spending Christmas with the queen, they will then sit down after lunch and watch her majesty’s speech.
And I dare say the same is true for those members of the royal family who are not sharing in the Christmas celebrations at Sandringham too. >> With that, the day draws to a close and the family relax with some sherads. >> It’s probably hard for most people to imagine that it really is just like a big family Christmas, but it really is just on a much more formal scale with a lot more food, a lot more outfit changes.
So, as long as you’re willing to open presents in formal evening wear instead of your PJs, you too can Christmas like the royals. From January to December, the royal family’s calendar is full of ceremonies, services, parades, and pageantry following traditions both ancient and modern.
Few of us could imagine celebrating with such pomp and circumstance. from golden christening fonts to birthday parades and huge house parties. But strip away the splendor and the Windsor don’t seem so different to the rest of us. It’s all about spending quality time with your family, enjoying humble food, and showing each other some respect, and adopting just some of their customs will have us all celebrating with a little royal flare.
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