Last Christmas, Princess Beatrice, and her then-fiancé, Edoardo Mozzi, broke tradition in the royal family when they attended the annual royal celebration at Sandringham Estate.
The royal couple, who got married in front of just 30 royal guests amid the coronavirus pandemic on July 17 this year, became the second couple to break the tradition, following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s footsteps back in 2017.
Before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married, they were invited to join the Queen and the rest of the royal family for the traditional Christmas festivities.
Royal experts speculated at the time that failing to do so would have caused controversy and potentially created problems welcoming Meghan Markle into the family.
Others also speculated that since Markle’s family were in the United States, it was a slightly different situation.
However, other senior members of the royal family could not enjoy the same privilege with partners whom they had not yet married.
In 2010, Queen Elizabeth II did not invite Kate to join the family at Sandringham, despite being engaged to Prince William, second in line to the throne.
Another royal who missed out on Christmas celebrations with the family before marrying into it is Mike Tindall, who was not invited even though he was engaged to Zara Phillips.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliam believes that these traditions are important to the royal family, yet the Queen is willing to create new traditions through the years, which could explain why this particular one has been broken twice within the last three years.
He stated: “In 2010 Kate was not invited to do so after her engagement to William nor was Mike Tindall after his to the Princess Royal’s daughter Zara Phillips and only spouses and close family are usually invited. However, Harry and Meghan will be living together at Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace, and her family is in the United States. The monarchy relies heavily on precedent and tradition, but it also makes its own.”
And in another step away from tradition, this year, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were forced to celebrate a quiet Christmas together at Windsor Castle, avoiding the usual Sandringham festivities for the first time in more than three decades.
The Queen remains open to small changes while being a big backer of royal traditions. This tactic has been beneficial to her throughout the years, as her popularity at the top member of the British monarchy remains intact.
