In the days before social media, Twitter and TMZ, what happened behind palace doors did not filter down to the masses, who were largely ignorant of the lavish Christmas trees the royals decorated every year. But thanks to a 16-page illustrated supplement printed by the London Illustrated News on December 23, 1848, that landscape changed dramatically [...]
In 1800, Queen Charlotte decided to hold a huge Christmas party for the children of the nobility of Windsor, but instead of decorating a yew bough as she’d done in years past, she potted a live tree, covered it with baubles and fruit, and stood it in the middle of the drawing room at Queen’s Lodge surrounded by presents. “[F]rom [...]
When a young German princess by the name of Charlotte left Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761 and came to England to marry King George, she brought with her many of the customs that she had practiced as a child, including the setting up of a yew branch in the house at Christmas. But as England’s new monarch, Queen [...]
