Prince Harry’s special tradition for Prince Archie and Lilibet connects them with their royal relatives at Christmas.
Since they stepped back as senior royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan have celebrated the festive season in the US rather than with the Royal Family at Sandringham. Whilst we might not expect to see them wrapped up in their best winter coats walking to church with King Charles and Queen Camilla this year either, Prince Harry's special tradition for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet is something that unites the royals on both sides of the pond.
Writing in his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry reportedly explained how for Christmas in 2020, he, Meghan and Prince Archie opened at least some of their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.
This is a tradition that the Royal Family are known for and it’s thought that it could be a special nod to their German heritage. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day in Germany and, as per Hello!, the Duke of Sussex explained that he’d deliberately kept up this tradition with his wife and son in 2020.
"We took Archie to find a Christmas tree. A pop-up lot in Santa Barbara. We bought one of the biggest spruces they had,” he reportedly declared. “We brought it home, set it up in the living room. Magnificent. We stood back, admiring, counting our blessings. New home. Healthy boy."
Prince Harry added, “It was Christmas Eve. We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain. We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition."
His special reference to opening gifts on Christmas Eve as a “Windsor family tradition” suggests that this was a considered choice and a lovely tribute to his wider family and his own experience of Christmas growing up. Even though the Sussexes were celebrating across the pond, they were still connected to the Royal Family and their Norfolk celebrations through this shared tradition.
Given how important it was for Prince Harry to uphold this tradition that year, it’s perfectly possible that he and Meghan have continued with it since welcoming their daughter Prince Lilibet in June 2021. If so, then she and Prince Archie would both be growing up with this experience that their cousins Prince George, Charlotte and Louis and the rest of the Royal Family have too.
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who are 6th and 7th in the royal line of succession respectively, have never celebrated Christmas in the UK. However, Prince Harry apparently revealed in Spare that he and Meghan made a sweet nod to the late Queen Elizabeth in their 2020 festivities in a unique way.
"One present was a little Christmas ornament of...the Queen! I roared. Meg had spotted it in a local store and thought I might like it,” Prince Harry shared. “I held it to the light. It was Grannie's face to a T. I hung it on an eye-level branch. It made me happy to see her there. It made Meg and me smile."
Unfortunately, Prince Archie accidentally “jostled the stand” which shook the tree, leading to the decoration smashing. Whilst there’s no longer the Queen Elizabeth ornament on the Sussexes’ Christmas tree, the family are likely looking forward to the festive break.
They’re expected to spend Christmas in the US again, though many fans will no doubt be hoping for Prince Harry, Meghan, Prince Archie and Lilibet to visit the UK and reunite with the rest of the Royal Family in 2024.
