#ROYAL FAMILY TREE BEFORE QUEEN VICTORIA WINDOWS#

The Victorian era and the Edwardian times of Downton Abbey sparkle with anecdotes of shooting parties, balls and lords, ladies and household staff gathered around Christmas trees. The present Royal Christmas, however, is a family affair at the Queen's Sandringham estate. Windsor Castle has been the focal point of a Royal family Christmas at varying times in history. It is no coincidence that during her reign so many of today's seasonal features-trees, cards, crackers-came to prominence. Queen Victoria cherished Christmas-“this happy, most blessed Festival”-as a family occasion, spent mostly at Windsor Castle or, after Albert's death (1861), at Osborne House, Isle of Wight. “German trees” became all the rage in upper-class houses and, once the woodcut of Queen Victoria appeared in the Illustrated London News, ordinary families began decking evergreens too.

More significantly, Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, caused a sensation on Christmas Day 1800 at Windsor when she threw a party for children of the principal local families taking an idea from her German homeland, its centerpiece was a yew tree decked in candles, sweetmeats and toys for her delighted young guests. Royalty led the way in the shape of German King George I, who insisted on plum pudding at his first English Christmas in 1714. Under Puritan rule, Christmas was banned and, although seasonal celebrations returned with the Restoration of the Monarchy (1660), it really took until the 18th and 19th centuries before people rediscovered and reinvented the traditional trappings we know today. But already the whiff of Puritanism was in the air: Jonson's Christmas, His Masque, performed for James I's court in 1616 and featuring characters like Mis-Rule, Minc'd-Pie, Caroll and Christmas, protested against anti-Christmas forces and appealed for “A right Christmas, as, of old, it was.” The Stuarts enjoyed the great artistic collaborations between Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones, who wrote and staged elaborate masques-a blend of poetry, propaganda, music, dance and extravagant costumes-often performed on New Year's Day or Twelfth Night. Sword fights aside, courtly culture entered a golden age, with Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights much in demand over Christmas- Twelfth Night, for example, was probably performed before Elizabeth I's court during the revels of 1601-2. He married the latter the following year. It was clear which way the wind was blowing in 1532, when Henry VIII refused a gold cup from his wife, Katherine of Aragon, but accepted an exotic set of richly decorated Pyrenean boar spears from Anne Boleyn. Gift giving in the politically fraught Tudor court, on New Year's Day rather than Christmas Day as now, could be another dangerous business as nobles curried favor, their presents to the sovereign displayed on sideboards for all to see (only the privileged few got anything in return). Supped 84 gentry, 114 yeoman, 92 garcons.” A dip into the Tudor household book of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, shows how tables at Thornbury Castle groaned on The Feast of The Nativity 1507: “Dined 95 gentry, 107 yeoman, 97 garcons. Norman nobles also loved a good seasonal hunt, a pursuit still indulged up and down the country by Boxing Day Meets suitably fortified by “stirrup cup” liquors.Ĭonspicuous consumption of food and drink was another extravagance that betokened power. William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066, and the following year, at his Christmas Assembly in Gloucester, he commissioned Domesday and handed out land to his cronies.

#ROYAL FAMILY TREE BEFORE QUEEN VICTORIA WINDOWS#

Selfridges Christmas windows - where the wonder began 113 years agoįar from the cozy family affair of a traditional modern Christmas promoted by Victoria, medieval courtly gatherings were spectacular occasions for public demonstrations of wealth and power.Great British Fare - Teatime at Christmas.

Royal family tree before queen victoria