Why Kate Middleton And Prince William Can't Eat Together On Christmas Morning
If the idea of a royal Christmas morning conjures images of William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their kids cozily snuggled around a tree with hot tea and cocoa, we wouldn't blame you. Nevertheless, you'd be wrong. As is custom in the royal family, Kate and William will have their first meal on Christmas Day separately.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady outlined the family's typical holiday celebrations at Sandringham House for the Daily Mail in 2017. According to McGrady, Christmas Day celebrations start at 9 a.m. for the women and 8:30 a.m. for the men. Whereas the men will meet in the downstairs dining room for a savory breakfast of eggs, meat, and mushrooms, the women typically eat their breakfast — something light, like sliced fruit — in their bedrooms.
Although McGrady never lists a specific reason why this tradition was started, the Mirror smartly notes that women typically require more prep time in the mornings to complete their festive hair, makeup, and fashion looks.
The royal family has their first group meal in the afternoon
An integral part of the royal family's Christmas celebrations is attending a church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, conveniently located on the Windsors' Sandringham estate. This annual event is highly publicized, which might explain why the women spend more time perfecting their appearances before facing the crowd of photographers at the church. After breakfast and service, the royals reconvene for quite an elaborate menu.
Per Darren McGrady, who served as the royal chef under the late Queen Elizabeth II from 1982 to 1997, the royal family enjoys their first group "meal" after the service at St. Mary Magdalene with a round of pre-lunch cocktails and beer. The family snacks on nuts while drinking champagne and other libations before sitting down for lunch together at 1 pm. Royal children, however, traditionally eat separately from the adults in the nursery at 12:30 pm.
The royal Christmas Day lunch includes turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, and winter vegetables. After their first course, the family moves on to a boozy Christmas pudding that McGrady said is often made the year before to allow for maximum maturation. Next is cheese and wine, then a festive tea, before culminating with a black tie dinner at 8:15 pm. (Unsurprisingly, many royals sneak in a quick snooze in between events to give their day-long noshing a chance to digest.)
Christmas Day isn't the only time the royal family's meals are served separately
Royal children are not only required to eat in the nursery during Christmas lunch. They're also required to do so at any major events year-round. Darren McGrady explained why, for example, Prince William and Princess Kate can't eat dinner with their kids every night, to Harper's Bazaar Australia.
"The children always ate in the nursery until they were old enough to conduct themselves properly at the dining table," McGrady explained (via the Mirror). "The Royal nursery wasn't just for educating the minds of the young royals but educating their palates, too. Nanny always had control of the menu and made sure they ate balanced meals that included not only lots of healthy vegetables but introduced them to new grown-up dishes, too." And because royal kids are still, well, kids, McGrady said that the separate meals allowed the chefs to sneak veggies into the children's favorite foods so that they'd actually eat them.
Spending Christmas morning apart from your loved ones is one of many traditions that family newcomers must quickly get used to, which might explain why Kate Middleton's first royal Christmas was reportedly so nerve-wracking. There is plenty to fuss over between the dining etiquette, strict schedule, and monarch-in-laws. Thankfully, the Windsors have a few lavish days of feasting and festivities to distract them from anything not so jolly.