Meghan Markle’s honest thoughts about Christmas with the royals….See More

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have their own life carved out in the US after stepping back almost five years ago as senior royals.

While relations between Prince Harry and Meghan and the royal family are now strained, the Duchess once shared her thoughts on what Christmas with the Windsors was like.

Meghan was invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham in 2017 before she and Harry were married, with the pair announcing their engagement just a few weeks before.

The former actress looked gorgeous in a camel coat by Sentaler with a brown Philip Treacy and a coordinating Chloe bag, as she walked to church with her future husband, alongside the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Meghan shared some insight into the festivities with the royals on her and Harry’s Netflix docuseries, released in 2022.

The last time Harry and Meghan spent Christmas with the royals was in 2018 when Meghan was pregnant with Prince Archie.

In 2019, they spent the festive season in Canada during an extended break from their royal duties, just weeks before they announced their plans to step back.

Despite now living in California, Harry revealed in his memoir, Spare, that the Sussexes do still follow some of the royal family’s traditions.

“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,” he wrote.

The royals traditionally exchange presents on Christmas Eve, keeping with the King’s ancestry, which is of German descent. Known as Heiligabend Bescherung – which translates as Christmas Eve exchanging presents – the tradition was popularised by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.