Prince Harry shares inside look into 'free-for-all' Christmas 'chaos' at Sandringham

Sharnaz Shahid
·2-min read
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walking
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend Christmas Day Church service (Getty)

Prince Harry offered an intimate glimpse into the royal family's Christmas celebrations in his memoir Spare, revealing a lively but somewhat chaotic festive tradition at Sandringham.

In a candid excerpt from the book, which was released at the start of 2023, the Duke of Sussex described the unique way his family exchange gifts.

kate with Prince Harry and Meghan walking down path
Prince Harry opened up about royal Christmases in Spare (Getty)

Recounting a past Christmas, Harry detailed the longstanding custom of gathering on Christmas Eve, a nod to the family's German heritage.

You may also like

"The whole family gathered to open gifts on Christmas Eve, as always, a German tradition that survived the anglicising of the family surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor," he wrote.

The festivities unfolded in a grand room at Sandringham, with a long table adorned with white cloths and name cards marking each family member's designated spot.

At the start of the evening, each royal guest would stand before their "mound of presents". Then, in what Harry described as a "free-for-all," the family would hurry to grab presents.

"Suddenly, everyone began opening at the same time," Harry recounted. "A free-for-all, with scores of family members talking at once and pulling at bows and tearing at wrapping paper."

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Harry walking in black
Harry and Meghan last spent Christmas with the royals in 2019 (Pool)

This tradition of the royals exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve was popularised by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert thanks to the royal family's German ancestry. It's known as Heiligabend Bescherung - which translates as Christmas Eve exchanging presents.

Prince Harry and Meghan's Christmas family tradition

In Spare, Harry also opened up about how he and his wife Meghan Markle have adopted this tradition as they open some of their presents on Christmas Eve.

Reflecting on Christmas 2020, Prince Harry divulged: "We took Archie to find a Christmas tree. A pop-up lot in Santa Barbara.

Meghan Markle decorating Christmas tree
Meghan seen decorating family Christmas tree in Vancouver (Netflix)

"We bought one of the biggest spruces they had. We brought it home, set it up in the living room. Magnificent. We stood back, admiring, counting our blessings. New home. Healthy boy."

He continued: "It was Christmas Eve. We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain. We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition."

Special gifts

Of one of the gifts, Harry added: "One present was a little Christmas ornament of...the Queen! I roared. Meg had spotted it in a local store and thought I might like it. I held it to the light.

"It was Grann's face to a T. I hung it on an eye-level branch. It made me happy to see her there. It made Meg and me smile."