„I chose to open the smallest present first. The tag said: ‚From Aunt Margo,'“ Harry wrote in his memoir, „Spare“.
One insight into royal life that the prince gave to his readers was what it was really like for Britain’s most famous family around Christmas time, in particular royal gift giving.
Each year, during the later stages of her reign, the royal family gathered at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, where they would open presents on Christmas Eve and attend church together (in view of the waiting public) on Christmas Day.
After his accession, King Charles III kept up these traditions, with the royals all photographed at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Sandringham on Christmas Day in 2022.
In his book, Harry described his family’s tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day and how this was inherited from their German ancestors.
„That survived the anglicizing of the family surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor,“ he wrote in reference to the decision made by his great-great-grandfather, King George V to change the royal family name, which had been „Saxe-Coburg-Gotha“ since Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, to Windsor.
