Q: Tali – Edinburgh
Is it true that William I was crowned on Christmas Day?

Yes, it is true. William I was crowned on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey. 

Since then there have been a further 38 Coronations held in the Abbey, the last in June 1953, when The Queen was crowned.

Q: Jennifer – Kent
Where does The Queen spend Christmas?

The Queen and her family have spent Christmas at Sandringham in recent times.

There was a period of 24 years when The Royal Family spent Christmas at Windsor, while in Christmas 1953, The Queen was in New Zealand.

The Queen and members of the Royal Family were at Sandringham most recently for Christmas 2007 and the New Year period.

King George V’s reign saw the birth of the tradition of spending Christmas at Sandringham. The first Christmas broadcast to the Empire was made live on Christmas Day, 1932, from Sandringham’s ‘business-room’. History was made again in 1957 when The Queen made her first televised broadcast live on Christmas Day from Sandringham’s library.
 
King George VI loved Sandringham as much as his father had done, spending many happy months on the estate. He spent his first Christmas as king there in 1936. Having been born there in York Cottage, he also died at Sandringham House, passing away in his sleep on the night of 6 February 1952.

The Queen’s attachment to Sandringham has remained as strong as that of her father, grandfather and great-grandfather. The first visit by Princess Elizabeth to Sandringham was Christmas 1926, aged just eight months, when she visited her grandparents King George V and Queen Mary.
 
From that time the Princess made regular visits to Sandringham. During the Second World War she and her sister were often resident on the Sandringham estate, living at Appleton House. In 1943 Princess Elizabeth was featured in newspapers helping with the harvest.

Q: Tom – Berkshire
I would like to send a Christmas card to The Duke of York. What address should I send it to?

You should send your card to the following address:

His Royal Highness The Duke of York
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA

Address details for other members of the Royal Family can be found in the Contact us section of this website.

Q: Layla – Melbourne
With Christmas approaching, I would like to enquire what kind of gifts and cards the Royals send.

Each year The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh send about 750 Christmas cards. The card usually has a family photograph and the cyphers of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and is dated and signed Elizabeth R and Philip. Most of the cards are personal, sent to family, friends and members of the Royal Household; some are also sent officially to British and Commonwealth Prime Ministers, Governors-General and high commissioners. In addition, The Duke of Edinburgh also sends over 200 cards, signed only by himself, to regiments and organisations with which he is involved. Other members of the Royal Family send their own individual cards. 

Every year The Queen gives a Christmas present to each member of the domestic staff in her Household, and to all her office and secretarial staff. The presents are given personally just before Christmas at Buckingham Palace and at Windsor, and on her arrival at Sandringham before New Year. Staff at Balmoral and Holyroodhouse also receive gifts, although The Queen is unable to present these personally.

Continuing a tradition of her father and grandfather (its original date is unknown), The Queen also gives Christmas puddings to many members of her staff. About 1450 puddings – paid for by The Queen through the Privy Purse – are distributed to staff and officials of the Household, the staffs of the private estates, staff of the Court Post Office and Palace police in London and Windsor. The puddings are accompanied by a greetings card from The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

In addition, The Queen sends (through the Privy Purse) a number of financial contributions to local charities in Windsor each Christmas.

Christmas trees are given by The Queen every year to several churches: Westminster Abbey receives two; St Paul’s Cathedral three; the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, two; St Giles Cathedral and the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh one each; and Crathie Church one. Churches and schools in the Sandringham area also receive Christmas trees.

Q: Katie – Ontario
Could you tell me more about the Church where the Royal Family worship on Christmas Day?

The Royal Family attend services at St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham over Christmas.

Records show that there was a Rector of Sandringham as far back as 1321, but the present church is believed to have been rebuilt in the sixteenth century, then extensively restored in 1857 and again in 1890 and 1909. In 1862 King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) bought the Sandringham Estate and since then the Royal Family have worshipped at the church when in residence at Sandringham House.

Over the years they have embellished it with many gifts and additions. The church clock was given by King Edward VII, as was the organ, which was presented by the King just months before he died.

The hatchments bearing the Royal arms above the font at the west end of the church were put on the outside of the railway coaches that carried the coffins of King George V and King George VI from Wolferton Station to London. The pulpit was presented to Queen Alexandra on her eightieth birthday in 1924.

Two pews in the chancel are reserved exclusively for the use of the Royal Family, members of the Royal Household and guests.

In the churchyard are the graves of Prince Alexander, the infant son of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and Prince John, fifth son of King George V and Queen Mary.