'Royal Christmas a world away from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Californian life', says ex-chef
Far from the world of royal banquets and formal regal traditions, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex prefer a more low-key Christmas these days. Since moving to balmy Montecito in California in March 2020, Harry, Meghan and their two children Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, have opted for relaxed festive celebrations on their luxury five-acre estate.
“We’re probably talking barbecues and walks on the beach for the Sussexes rather than obligatory black-tie dinners and pheasant shoots at Sandringham,” says royal expert Duncan Larcombe. “As far as we know, Christmas is a small family occasion with Meghan’s mum Doria Ragland, and a few close friends popping over. It’s far more intimate than what goes on at Sandringham, with a very different vibe.”
It is thought that Meghan, who is a keen cook, takes control in the kitchen, although Cali-style feasting also looks a little different on Christmas Day.
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As former royal chef Darren McGrady, now based in the US, tells OK!, “Most people in America have turkey at Thanksgiving instead, so come Christmas, everyone’s done with it and they go for things like prime rib, roast beef and big hams. Christmas is not really a big thing in America, especially for Brits.”
Despite keeping things understated, Meghan is still likely to inject some festive flair into the family’s eight-bedroom mansion.
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Writing on her old blog, The Tig, she once gave her top tips for creating show-stopping dining-room decor at Christmas. “When creating a table-scape, keep it simple and crisp with an all-white tablecloth, runner and napkins,” she advised.
“Accent with gilded plates and napkin rings and use a stylish set of cutlery. All-white flowers placed in low vases are the perfect centrepiece.”
She also shared her favourite Christmas cocktail recipe – almond milk, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and a good slug of bourbon whisky, blitzed with dried dates. “Shake it hard in a cocktail shaker and serve in champagne glasses with a cinnamon/sugar rim on the glass. Super pretty and equally delicious!” she wrote.
With the Sussexes expected to stay in the US this Christmas, the prospect of a reconciliation between Harry, his brother Prince William and father King Charles looks bleak.
“It would be fantastic if they did come back to the UK this Christmas, but it’s not going to happen,” says Duncan. “Even if the King picked up the phone for a Christmas Day heart-to-heart with Harry, there’s still the issue of trust and what might get broadcast. Charles and William are in a very difficult position.”
Duncan believes Harry’s mother, Diana, the former Princess of Wales, would have been distressed by the state of affairs.
“Although Diana herself famously hated the Sandringham gatherings at Christmas – especially while her marriage was imploding – I’m still convinced she would be absolutely distraught at the way things have unfolded for William and Harry,” he says.
It was a very different story for the brothers when they were children. Chef Darren remembers the mischief they used to enjoy together as boys at Sandringham.
“One Christmas Eve, the royals were exchanging gifts and we could hear them shouting and having fun in the drawing room. Suddenly a very young Wills and Harry came racing into the kitchen with pump-action water guns and started firing on us!” he laughs.
“My chef friend Arthur and I decided we would get them back. On Boxing Day, we went into King’s Lynn and found two replica Uzi machine guns. We raced back to Sandringham and got into position in the car park to ambush Wills and Harry as they left afternoon tea.
“Suddenly, in the dark we heard a voice shouting, ‘Freeze! Armed police!’ A policeman with a real gun came out of nowhere and sent us on our way, so we never did get to shoot at the boys. It was fun though.”
It seems Harry’s own memories of the Sandringham gift-swapping are not so rosy, however. In his memoir Spare, he recalls receiving a present from the late Princess Margaret.
“Standing before my pile, I chose to open the smallest present first,” Harry writes. “The tag said, ‘From Aunt Margo.’ I tore off the paper. It was… A biro?
“But it wasn’t just any biro, she pointed out. It had a tiny rubber fish wrapped around it. I said, ‘Oh. A fish biro! OK.’ I told myself, ‘That is cold-blooded.’” Suggesting that relations with Aunt Margo were on the frosty side, he also claimed she “could kill a houseplant with one scowl”.
Harry was also outspoken about his rift with his brother and father in his best-selling book – but just a few years earlier, Christmas 2017 seemed a world apart.
It was the year that Harry and Meghan spent their first Christmas with the family, and as they were snapped as they strolled to church on Christmas morning with William and Kate, there was no hint of the strife that would later descend.
The two couples seemed so happy in each other’s company that they became known as the “Fab Four”.
The Sussexes stayed with William and Kate at their nearby Anmer Hall home, and Harry told the BBC, “Meghan really enjoyed it. The family loved having her there. We had an amazing time staying with my brother and sister-in-law. We were running around with the kids and Christmas was fantastic.”
He and Meghan had announced their engagement only a month earlier. Duncan says, “It was the year we were all talking about that ‘Markle sparkle’. Meghan was very much seen as this breath of fresh air in the royal family.”
Twelve months on from the Fab Four’s first appearance, Christmas Day 2018 again saw them snapped on the walk to church. But by now, there were already reports of a rift, and the Sussexes stayed at Sandringham House rather than Anmer Hall.
Kate and Meghan put on a united front and beamed for the cameras, but there had already been speculation that the couples were becoming increasingly distant.
In February that year, Harry had commented, “Working as a family does have its challenges; of course it does. But we are stuck together for the rest of our lives.”
There were also persistent rumours of a furious spat between Meghan and Kate in the run-up to the Sussexes’ wedding in May 2018, over the length of bridesmaid Princess Charlotte ’s dress.
That Christmas was Harry and Meghan’s last with the family to date. “After the joyful festivities of 2017, things had quickly turned sour,” comments Duncan.
Harry, Meghan and newborn Archie spent Christmas 2019 in Canada with Meghan’s mother Doria, and a few weeks later in January 2020, it was announced that they were stepping down as senior royals.
The so-called “Megxit” crisis widened the division between the brothers, and Harry and Meghan’s bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 worsened the rift.
Hopes that William and Harry might settle their differences have yet to bear fruit. But Duncan does not believe that family members will dwell on the falling-out when they are gathered at Sandringham this Christmas.
“I don’t think the other royals will spend much time thinking about the two empty places at the dinner table,” he says. “The days of the Fab Four are sadly long gone.”
