Inside Royal Family’s lavish Christmas – extravagant baubles 'the size of footballs' to hilarious novelty presents

Every Christmas, each royal residence receives a glamorous glow-up. Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh are the focuses for the festive transformations and the complex preparations are overseen by a vast ‘bling’ squad, involving florists, exhibition staff and curators from the Royal Collection Trust (RCT). The number of trees used varies from year to year but one thing never changes: the challenges faced by the project team.

Sally Goodsir, senior curator of decorative arts, and Hannah Belcher, senior exhibition project co-ordinator, exclusively reveal the secrets to putting on a decadent display fit for a King. “We always have a very large real tree in the Great Gallery at Holyroodhouse and the same in St George’s Hall at Windsor,” says Sally. “Then there are a further eight or so trees across both sites – a mixture of real and false, big and small.”

At 60ft, the ceiling of St George’s Hall is three times that of an average two-storey house.

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“The rooms are so large the decorations have to be proportionately upscaled so they have an impact,” Sally explains. “Some of the foil decorations we use on the St George’s Hall tree at Windsor are over 50cm in diameter. And many of the baubles are larger than footballs, but look normal against the tree.

“But probably our biggest challenge is that the installations have to work around our visitors, staff, guests to royal events and the residents themselves.”

Keeping the trees fresh could be problematic, but the team has its ways. “An ingenious watering system in the tree stands helps to keep the trees happy and vibrant,” explains Hannah. “But in some of the more restricted spaces, due to the humidity, we have to reuse artificial trees.”

‘Reuse and recycle’ is a motto very much associated with the eco-conscious King. “We have a very strong reuse ethos – a priority in the last decade or more,” Hannah says. “We source recycled and recyclable tinsel made in the UK, but for several years we’ve not used anything with glitter on it. It’s for environmental reasons, but even the more eco-friendly glitter can take a while to remove from an interior! We’ve never used real candles either, although that would be more historically accurate. Luckily, with LED bulbs we can fit a lot more lights on to each tree.

“You can achieve some lovely effects from the lights reflecting in reusable mirrored or glass ornaments. We have enough choice to swap pieces in and out each year.”

“The tree in St George’s Hall has around 3,000 lights,” says Sally. “As well as baubles, we use stems of fake foliage of all different colours and textures, sparkling wired branches, snowflake decorations, ribbons, wreaths, garlands, faux fruit and tinsel. We even have some toy French horns that we place among the branches. A big tree can take a huge number of decorations and the more shape and variety the better.”

What’s the number one decorating tip for a tree that meets royal standards? “Decorate right to the centre of the tree,” says Sally. “It adds depth and richness.”

Each setting has to be taken into consideration. “In the Palace of Holyroodhouse we use more green and ‘snowy’ foliage and decorate with plastered fruit to reflect the historic plasterwork in the ceilings,” Sally adds. “At Windsor we use more gold to reflect the gilding evident in the rooms.

“We’re working within historic interiors with bold colour schemes of their own, so we have to be flexible. Sometimes a tree is best, but other times garlands or wreaths work well.”

You won’t find drawing pins and Sellotape holding up the tinsel. Instead, clever devices are crafted to protect antique furnishings.

“To give height or add structure we might create temporary obelisks or arches that we can add decorations to. My favourites are for the garlands around the fireplaces. It’s not possible to secure a garland directly to the mantles because of their historic nature and the
objects on them. So we have free-standing frames made to measure that we secure our garlands to. They always look magical.”

The displays take months to plan. “Initial ideas are floated immediately after Christmas has ended, taking into account any improvements we can make,” says Hannah. “We then have more in-depth discussions in the spring and summer. The trees are selected in September and we check over and tidy all the decorations ready to install them in November.”

According to A Royal Christmas by the RCT’s Louise Cooling, the Christmas tree was introduced to the British royal family by the German-born Queen Charlotte – yes, the one portrayed in Bridgerton !

One visitor to Windsor during Charlotte’s reign recalled: “In the middle of the room stood an immense tub with a yew tree placed in it, from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds and raisins in papers, fruits and toys… each child obtained a portion of the sweets it bore, together with a toy and all returned home quite delighted.”

But it was Queen Victoria’s German husband Albert who altered the nature of the royals’ festive displays and made Christmas trees fashionable. Every member of the family had their own tree standing on an altar heaped with presents and there were trees hung from the chandeliers.

The RCT has often taken inspiration from the past to bring special touches to their own displays.

“In 2014, we celebrated Queen Charlotte’s use of yew branches inside,” says Sally. “Another big favourite was the suspended Christmas tree displayed in the Octagon Dining Room at Windsor.”

The royals don’t scrimp on decorations in their other residences, either. A huge 25ft fir is annually craned into place outside Kensington Palace, while in 2022, a tree was delivered to Clarence House on a cart pulled by shire horses – Joey and William had the honour that year.

Three festive firs stand in the Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace, typically decorated with lights, gold and velvet crowns and other royal motifs. The grand staircase is decked with giant jewel-coloured bauble garlands.

At Sandringham, the royals and their staff roll up their sleeves. The late Queen used to decorate the tree with the children, although she admitted in a Sir David Attenborough documentary that they were clumsy.

“This is always the problem… The children love knocking those [baubles] off. Well, my great-grandchildren do. The great thing is to make them decorate it and then they’re a bit more careful.”

Following tradition, the King selects a 20ft spruce tree from his Sandringham estate but royal expert Ingrid Seward doubts the tree dressing will be a family affair.

“Charles is an old fusspot,” she says. “I can’t imagine him allowing the grandchildren to put tinsel and all sorts on the tree. He probably gets it decorated by an interior designer-type. It will have to be just right.”

We’re sure it looks suitably spectacular.