Christmas will probably not be completely carefree and exuberant this year either – this also applies to the European royal families:
Great Britain
For the British Queen Elizabeth it is not only the first Christmas as a widow, the Queen will not spend the holidays as usual at her country estate in Sandringham, but stay in Windsor. The 95-year-old, who has struggled with health problems in recent weeks, will not be lonely: she will spend Christmas Day with her eldest son Prince Charles (73) and his wife Duchess Camilla (74). A spokesman for the heir to the throne announced yesterday. It remained unclear until the end whether other family members in addition to Charles and Camilla would come to the Queen for the Christmas holidays.
Monaco
Good news for Princess Charlène of Monaco: on Christmas, her husband, Prince Albert II, and her children visit her in a clinic outside the Principality. For a few weeks now, Charlène has been receiving medical treatment there to recover from health problems. The recovery is going well, said the Monegasque palace. It should take a few more months before the princess is well again. At the beginning of November, the 43-year-old returned to Monaco after months in her native South Africa. Shortly afterwards she had to go back to the hospital.
Denmark
Queen Margrethe (81) and her family will be back at Marselisborg Castle in Aarhus for the holidays. The monarch arrived on December 20th and is spending Christmas Eve with the family of Crown Prince Frederik (53). The monarch canceled a New Year’s table with high-ranking politicians due to the tightened corona restrictions.
Sweden
The Swedish royal family will celebrate Christmas with the family, it is only said from the palace in Stockholm. According to some media reports, King Gustaf (75) and his wife Silvia, who celebrated her 77th birthday yesterday, enjoy the free time with their children and grandchildren.
Spain
The Spanish royals are expected to celebrate without old king Juan Carlos again this year. The former head of state, who is in distress over allegations of corruption, will be spending Christmas in Abu Dhabi for the second time. The corruption investigation against the 83-year-old has just been extended by six months. Traditionally, nothing is communicated about how King Felipe and Queen Letizia (49) and their daughters, heir to the throne Leonor (16) and Princess Sofía (14), celebrate Christmas. One thing is certain: on Christmas Eve at 9 p.m., as every year, the King’s Christmas address will be shown on television.
Netherlands
Willem-Alexander (54) and Queen Máxima (50) are finally back together with all three daughters. “The holidays are coming: back home together” tweeted the royal couple full of anticipation. Crown Princess Amalia (18) graduated from high school in the summer and now spends the time traveling until her studies. Her sister Alexia (16) has been attending boarding school in Wales since September. Because of the corona rules, the parents were not allowed to visit her there. Only 14-year-old Ariane still lives permanently in the palace in The Hague. How exactly the Oranjes spend the holidays is a private matter and will not be communicated. But you should be wary of parties: Just recently the family angry because, despite the strict Corona rules, they had celebrated Crown Princess Amalia’s 18th birthday in a big way. Dozens of guests are said to have been at the festival in the palace garden. At the moment, the Dutch should only receive a maximum of four visitors a day.
Norway
The Norwegian royal couple Harald and Sonja (both 81) celebrate together with Crown Prince Haakon (48), Mette-Marit (48) and the children in the Kongsseteren. This is a kind of private winter residence of the Royals, a 100 year old wooden house near the ski jump on Holmenkollen. It is then quite traditional with a Christmas tree and gifts on Christmas Eve.
Source: Nachrichten
