It is hard to believe it but we are already at our concluding post for our Royal Christmas series! (I may be wrong but I think that most people are somewhat familiar with the main Windsor holiday traditions.) We began with Henry VII and the Tudors with a New Year’s focused holiday season, and then moved to a theatrical Stuart holiday. After venturing to a somewhat riskier Georgian Christmas, we now find ourselves with the Victorians. As the Victorians have been credited with many holiday traditions, let’s see what the hallmarks of a Victorian Christmas are. Let’s jump into the history of Victorian Christmas!
The Christmas Tree (as we know it)
What would a discussion of Victorian Christmas be without Christmas trees? As we covered in the last royal Christmas post, Prince Albert is not the royal responsible for introducing the Christmas tree to the British Royal Family. (That was Queen Charlotte.) However, Albert shifted from the Yew tree that Queen Charlotte and Queen Adelaide favoured; he imported German Springelbaum trees. And he placed these smaller trees on table tops rather than a full standing tree.
Victoria and Albert are closely associated with the Christmas Tree because they are the first British royal family unit to be used in mass media- drawings and images of Victoria and Albert and their children were rapidly disseminated across the British Empire, linking them with these traditions.
Christmas Eve
While many of us think of Christmas Day (particularly Christmas morning) when we hear the words “Christmas presents”, Victoria and ALbert stuck with the German custom of opening presents on Christmas Eve. The later Georgian royals had also gone with this tradition- it makes sense, many of them intermarried with various German royals.
Albert focused on the children in their family’s celebrations though; Christmases with his brother Ernest in Coburg were some of his happiest memories and he hoped to recreate that for them. And as one might imagine, the royal couple exchanged some fairly elaborate gifts. On several occasions, The Prince had different tiaras and necklaces designed for The Queen.
Windsor for Christmas
While we are now firmly used to the British Royal Family spending Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk, Victoria and Albert spent their Christmases at Windsor. Or they did until 1861. Albert passed away on 14 December 1861, forever altering Victoria and their family.
What part of the history of Victorian Christmas surprised you the most?
Cheers,
The Historian
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