The whole world sees the royal family as they depart their morning church service at St. Mary Magdalene on Dec. 25, walking past (and engaging with!) a crowd of well-wishers as they head back to Sandringham House and the Christmas Day lunch that awaits them there.
What we don’t see, though, is what happens inside the walls of St. Mary Magdalene, nestled on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Thankfully, Prince William took us all inside those four walls.
Speaking on the Apple Fitness + podcast Time to Walk in 2021 (and per The Mirror), the future king, 42, answered questions while walking the grounds of Sandringham, including at one point passing by the church that is so dear to the royal family.
“What’s very good about it is that we sit opposite each other as a family, and growing up, having my cousins sat opposite me has always been quite difficult to keep a straight face at times,” he said.
While he doesn’t mention any cousins by name, he’s likely referring to Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall — the son and daughter of Princess Anne, who are just a couple of years older than him — and Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who are a couple of years younger than him. (Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh’s children Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex were born in the 2000s, when Prince William was already an adult.)
There also, of course, would be Prince William’s younger brother, Prince Harry.
“I have had the giggles many, many times in the service,” William said of the Christmas Day service. “Luckily, no one’s filming it, so you can get away with it. And on Christmas Day, it’s fun to have a giggle and enjoy yourself.”
William also reminisced about those famous Dec. 25 walks to church, telling the podcast, “I have strong memories of walking down here, and my grandfather [Prince Philip], he used to walk so fast that there’d be huge gaps and spaces between all of us walking down, and there’d be us at the back with little legs trying to keep up.”
He added of the walks to church that “Walking along here, you’ve got big pine trees that are quite synonymous with this part of Norfolk. And I love the smell of pine in the winter. It’s very soothing.”
William continued, “As we’re walking along here, it’s been a walk that my family have done for many, many years on the way to church on Christmas Day. It must be at least 25 years by now.”
“You know, I think, over time, you start to feel quite attached to those moments and those memories before,” he said.
Rebecca English of The Daily Mail further opened up about life behind the scenes at Sandringham on the Palace Confidential podcast, where the royal family traditionally gather for the Christmas holiday, saying that the experience of a royal family Christmas “sounds more glamorous than it is.”
“I’ve been told in the past that Sandringham can fit about 16 to 18 people to have a sleepover comfortably,” she added. (Keep in mind that Prince William said earlier this month, while meeting with families of 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment of Picton Barracks in Wiltshire, that he was anticipating celebrating with 45 family members this year.)
Sometimes, English said, the living quarters get so crowded that royal family members are forced to turn to staff members’ bedrooms to accommodate them: “In previous years I’ve been told that they’ve actually had to kick staff out of their quarters,” English added. “And Edward and Sophie were put in some of the staff quarters because they had nowhere else to stay.”
Describing the beds as “like what they call ‘fish finger beds,’ ” English said Sandringham has “old fashioned beds with the really creaky bedsprings at the bottom.”
Richard Eden also spoke alongside his Daily Mail colleague English, adding that “In Sandringham House itself, because it’s a private residence, we don’t know exactly how many bedrooms there are, for example,” but guessed “there are thought to be about 30.” (In addition to Sandringham House itself, there are numerous other buildings on the estate where guests can stay, like Wood Farm, where the Duke and Duchess of York were expected to stay before canceling their attendance at the Sandringham celebrations because of Andrew’s connections to an alleged Chinese spy.)
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“There’ll be a lot of members of the royal family staying there this Christmas, and it does mean it’s great fun,” Eden continued. “You’ve got that huge extended family opening presents together and things like that.”
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