With a large family of kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, it is no wonder that the Queen likes to keep things organised when it comes to her annual Christmas lunch.
And with Christmas just days away now, the royal family is no doubt getting ready for a long-awaited reunion after an undeniably tough year that saw the Queen lose her husband of more than 70 years.
Prince Philip passed away at the grand old age of 99 back in April of this year, and while the royal family will be happy they can spend this Christmas together, they will no doubt feel Philip’s absence deeply this first holiday season without him.
Due to growing concerns about the Omnicron variant, the Queen cancelled her pre-Christmas lunch last week, but is, according to Woman & Home magazine, still expected to be joined by her relatives at her Norfolk estate, Sandringham House, on 25 December.
When it comes to how the royal family spends the festive season, it seems there are many rules to be followed.
The kids eat in a separate room
For instance, the Queen makes Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children sit in a separate room for the festive meal, according to insiders. The same goes for other young family members.
Yep – it seems the 95-year-old royal likes her Christmas lunch to be child-free – with all the Queen’s great-grandchildren traditionally being seated in a separate room to their parents for the annual lunch, where they are supervised by nannies while the older royals enjoy a peaceful meal with their fellow grown-ups.
According to Her Majesty’s former chef, Darren McGrady, the kids were never allowed to join their mums and dads at the dining table on Christmas until they were “old enough to conduct themselves properly.”
“For the Queen, there was never a case of putting a high chair at the table with a little baby squealing and throwing food,” McGrady explained in an interview with HELLO!
“It was Victorian. The children’s place was in the nursery and Nanny would take care of them. It’s your modern-day Downton Abbey.”
Mike Tindall, husband of Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, has also spoken about Christmas with the royals, and has verified this rumour.
Speaking about his 2019 Christmas lunch experience on The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby, he explained to his podcast co-hosts how the seating layout was arranged.
“This is the family lunch, there were seven tables so there must have been about 70 of us there,” he could reveal.
“The kiddies have their own little one in a different room.”
