Royals

The Palace announces the Sussexes will not join the royal family for Christmas at Sandringham

The royal family-of-three will be spending their holidays across the pond with Meghan’s mother Doria, Buckingham Palace have confirmed.
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Buckingham Palace have announced the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and six-month-old Archie will not be joining the rest of the royal family at Sandringham for Christmas this year, instead opting to celebrate the festivities with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are looking forward to extended family time towards the end of the month,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

“Having spent the last two Christmases at Sandringham, [the couple] will spend the holiday this year, as a new family, with the Duchess’ mother Doria.

“This decision is in line with precedent set previously by other members of the Royal Family, and has the support of Her Majesty The Queen.”

Archie, Meghan and Harry will be spending Christmas with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland this year. (Image: Getty)

Indeed it’s not unusual for members of the royal family to skip the traditional Sandringham Christmas with the Queen.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have also forgone the royal celebrations in previous occasions, most recently in 2016, when they took Prince George and Princess Charlotte to spend their first Christmas with Catherine’s side of the family in Berkshire.

Last year Meghan spent her second Christmas with the royal family, and her first as a royal after marrying Harry in May that year.

The Cambridges and the Sussexes looked every bit the ‘Fab Four’ as they joined the rest of the royal family for their Christmas Day walk to a service at St Mary’s Magdalene in Norfolk.

Prince William, Duchess Kate, Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry step out for Christmas Day at Sandringham. (Image: Getty)

While it had been assumed Meghan and Harry would return to Sandringham in time for Christmas, new grandmother Doria is no doubt delighted she’ll get to spend not only Thanksgiving with her grandson Archie but also Christmas.

Doria was of immense support to Meghan leading up to and straight after Archie’s birth in May, flying from her home in Los Angeles to the UK to be there to support her daughter during the birth and then support Meghan and Harry settle into their new routines and lives as parents and returned two months later for Archie’s private christening at Windsor and featured in the official portrait, standing next to Prince Charles.

Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland attended Archie’s christening in July. (Image: Chris Allerton)

Archie’s christening portraits also marked the last proper glimpse the public had gotten of the young royal, until recently when he made his royal tour debut in South Africa, during a morning tea with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The adorable bub looked like the spitting image of his father Harry, even sporting tufts of red hair and giggling and as sat on Meghan’s knee.

Just last week Meghan shared a cute update about the six-month-old telling parents at during a visit to the Broom Farm Community Centre that he’d grown his first two teeth and has started to crawl!

We can’t believe how fast he’s grown!

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