Royal Family news: Baby Archie to miss ‘rare opportunity’ this Christmas | Royal | News (Reports)

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Royal author Penny Junor said the Queen’s youngest great-grandchild will not be able to see his cousins this Christmas as they are living “thousands of miles apart”. Ms Junor, who wrote ‘The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor’, told Express.co.uk “the biggest loss for Archie, I would guess, will be not seeing his cousins”.

She added: “Sadly, he and William and Kate’s children are growing up thousands of miles apart and because of COVID-19 will miss one of the rare opportunities for them to get to know one another.”

This year, much like other households in the UK, the Royal Family will have to adapt to the current times amid the coronavirus crisis and celebrate differently.

Ms Junor said: “Every year, in normal times, the families all gather at Sandringham on Christmas Eve and as they arrive, they lay their presents on trestle tables in the White Drawing Room.

“When everyone has arrived the Queen takes the children into the White Drawing Room to put the final decorations on the Christmas tree.

“At 5pm they all gather for afternoon tea with sandwiches, cakes and scones and after tea they open their presents.”

At Sandringham, the custom is to open presents on Christmas Eve, a German tradition that stuck with the Royal Family through the years.

The ‘Charles and Diana: Portrait of a Marriage’ author added: “According to Lord Linley, the Queen’s nephew, it is ’total uproar’.

“Exchanging presents on Christmas Eve is a hangover from the family’s Germanic heritage.”

On that day back in 1952, the Queen was in Kenya during her Commonwealth tour.

To honour her father’s life, the Monarch stays up at the estate and keeps the trees and decorations up until the anniversary of his death.

After that she returns to London and resumes her usual activities.

Last year, the Queen made an emotional reference to her father in her annual Christmas broadcast, The Queen’s Speech, as she spoke about the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

She said: “This year we mark another important anniversary: D-Day.

“On June 6, 1944 some 156,000 British, Canadian and American forces landed in northern France.

“It was the largest ever seaborne invasion and was delayed due to bad weather.

“I well remember the look of concern on my father’s face. He knew the secret D-Day plans but could of course share that burden with no one.”

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