Fergie describes Christmas with the royals as 'exhausting'

Sarah Carty
·Lifestyle Editor


It might sound like a glamorous Christmas gathering but according to Sarah Ferguson, the festive season with the royals is ‘exhausting’.

The 59-year-old, who is mum to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, was married to the Queen’s son, Prince Andrew, from 1986 until 1992 and spent many Christmases shacked up at Sandringham.

However, while we all gush over the royals’ annual parade to St Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk on Christmas Day, Fergie has revealed that the reality of it is a lot more mundane than it seems.

Sarah Ferguson has described Christmas with the royals as ‘exhausting’. Here she is pictured with Princess Diana at Sandringham. Photo: Getty Images
Sarah Ferguson has described Christmas with the royals as ‘exhausting’. Here she is pictured with Princess Diana at Sandringham. Photo: Getty Images
The 59-year-old, who is mum to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, was married to the Queen’s son, Prince Andrew, from 1986 until 1992 and spent many Christmases shacked up at Sandringham. Photo: Getty Images
The 59-year-old, who is mum to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, was married to the Queen’s son, Prince Andrew, from 1986 until 1992 and spent many Christmases shacked up at Sandringham. Photo: Getty Images

Fergie claimed she had to change seven times over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, making the whole thing ‘exhausting’, according to New Idea.

The Queen is apparently a stickler for tradition and required each and every member of the royal family to bring along different outfits for each separate events over the holiday period.

That includes a Christmas Eve banquet, Christmas Day breakfast, lunch afternoon tea, dinner and a special casual outfit for taking a walk around the grounds.

This Christmas is set to be Meghan Markle’s mum, Doria Ragland’s, first festive season with the royals and according to experts, she’s in for a shock.

This Christmas is set to be Meghan Markle’s mum, Doria Ragland’s, first festive season with the royals and according to experts, she’s in for a shock. Photo: Getty Images
This Christmas is set to be Meghan Markle’s mum, Doria Ragland’s, first festive season with the royals and according to experts, she’s in for a shock. Photo: Getty Images

“There will be advisors on hand to help Meghan’s mum Doria Ragland, but it is going to be difficult,” Jean Broke-Smith, advisor and judge on Australian Princess, told New Idea.

“For one thing she will need to bring a trunk full of clothes from California.”

However, it seems Doria has nothing to worry about when it comes to fitting in with the royals, as she obviously made a huge impression on the Queen at Meghan and Prince Harry’s May 19th wedding.

The “very thoughtful gesture” by the Queen to invite Doria to Christmas dinner is apparently without precedent, with Prince William’s in-laws the Middletons never receiving the same invite.

“It’s a mark of the Queen’s respect for Meghan and an acknowledgement that she doesn’t have any other relations in this country – unlike Kate who has the support of a very close family,” the Express reports.

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