Royal home with tragic past where Sarah Ferguson would spend Christmas
The Royal Family owns homes, castles and palaces all over the country with many of them being bought with private funds. While events such as Easter are spent at Windsor Castle, Christmas is typically enjoyed at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
The festive period in 2022 was a huge step forward for more reasons than one. Of course it was the first of King Charles' reign, but it was also incredibly inclusive with not only Queen Camilla's children and grandchildren invited, but also Sarah, Duchess of York. After their separation in 1992, Sarah was not invited to spend Christmas with Prince Andrew and their two daughters and instead would eat alone at Wood Farm. The cottage is tucked away in a secluded corner of the Sandringham Estate and has a tragic secret story.
Sandringham House stands on a 20,000 estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The estate also has several other buildings on the grounds, including the Prince and Princess of Wales' countryside home of Anmer Hall, Park House and York Cottage.
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Wood Farm is a small cottage that was built around the same time as the main Sandringham House and was sold to and adapted for the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Following his retirement in 2017, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh spent a large majority of his time at Wood Farm, rather than staying in London. Wood Farm has also been the location where divorced spouses of royals are put up over the holiday period so they can be near their children but also not officially at the festive holiday celebrations at the main house.
Royal biographer Robert Jobson previously explained to The Mirror that Wood Farm had long been a place of retreat for the late Queen. "The Grade II-listed Wood Farm, located on a secluded part of the Queen’s Sandringham Estate looking out to sea, has long been a bolthole for the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip.
"It is where the Queen, Philip, and their four children went to relax for more than 50 years. And, of course, it is where Philip made his retirement home in his twilight years with the Queen’s blessing. The Queen was known to cook and even do dishes while she was staying there.
"With its simple furnishings and open fires, it is a lot less formal than life at Windsor, Buckingham Palace and even Balmoral, although it is spacious enough. When Philip was there, he didn’t stand on ceremony and servants didn’t wear the usual royal uniforms."
While the late Prince Philip is certainly the most recent royal to live at Wood Farm on a permanent basis, the most notable resident was Prince John, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary.
By his fourth birthday in 1909, John became “winsome” and “painfully slow.” That same year, he suffered his first epileptic seizure. He also began to show signs of what experts now believe was a severe form of autism.
Although Prince John appeared in public regularly until he was 11, there were concerns for his poor behaviour - so much so, that he didn’t attend his parent’s coronation in 1911.
During World War I, John saw less of his parents as they were often away on official duties. John slowly began to disappear from the public eye and no official portraits of him were commissioned after 1913.
In 1916, the prince’s epileptic seizures became more frequent and he was sent away to live with his governess Charlotte “Lala” Bill at Wood Farm, a secluded farmhouse in the corner of the Sandringham Estate. Physicians warned the family that he would likely not reach adulthood.
John spent Christmas Day in 1918 with his family at Sandringham House, but was taken back to Wood Farm in the evening. On January 18, 1919, Prince John died in his sleep at Wood Farm following a severe seizure. He is buried at St Mary Magdalene Church, where the royals always attend their Christmas morning service.