Queen Elizabeth has reportedly extended an invitation to Duchess Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, to join the royal family for their Christmas holiday at Sandringham in Norfolk.
9 Honey says that columnist Victoria Arbiter has spent a lot of time around the palace, and doesn’t think that people understand what a big deal it is to have a new member of the royal family’s mother join the tightly knit circle created by the royal family. But this year, Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria, got an official invitation to Christmas from Queen Elizabeth herself.
But Arbiter says that Duchess Meghan’s situation is not the usual one, because of the closeness she has with her mother and because Meghan and Doria have few close family members with whom to share holidays.
“Meghan’s situation is unique when compared to previous royal spouses. For anyone who watched May’s royal wedding, it would be impossible to miss Harry’s full house on one side of the Chapel in stark contrast to Meghan’s sole family member, her mum Doria, sitting stoically and alone across the aisle.”
The queen allowed Duchess Meghan to attend Christmas last years when she was Prince Harry’s fiancee, so the precedent had already been broken for Markle.
“Precedents are clearly made to be broken, so might the Queen make an exception?”
What it would mean for the Queen to invite Meghan’s mum to Christmas https://t.co/ZKOE5A7jFJ
— Waleska (@wallymcc1) November 17, 2018
It was after the Windsor Castle fire that the royal Christmas was moved to Sandringham, and since then, the schedule has been rather structured, going back to Victorian times.
“Following arrivals on Christmas Eve, afternoon tea is served. The evening brings a fancy black-tie dinner, and the opening of presents—a German tradition embraced by Queen Victoria when she married Prince Albert in 1840.”
Arbiter says that extending an invitation to this exclusively royal event is very unusual for the queen.
“The Queen is not obligated to the extended families of either her children or her grandchildren.”
In the past, an exception has been made for the new years celebration, but not for Christmas. Even Prince Charles’ second wife Camilla’s children and grandchildren have not been invited for Christmas, and former daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson has just announced that once again, she will be spending the holiday alone, as her daughters and Prince Andrew will be at Sandringham.
As reported by the Inquisitr , Sarah Ferguson says that this year she plans to stay home and watch Ben-Hur . Though she would love to be with her family on the holiday, she understands the tradition.
“I know that Her Majesty adores my children,” she said. “So I am happy to share them — both in August and at Christmas.”