Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s 2020 in review

Next week will mark the one year anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step down as senior royals. They spent their first Christmas in California as a family with one-year-old son Archie Harrison this year. The couple were spotted Christmas tree shopping last month at an unnamed tree barn.

In a now-deleted tweet, an employee of the barn wrote: “Meghan and Prince Harry came into my work today and we sold them their Christmas tree.”

They added: “There was one family in there and their stoked little son ran through the trees up to Harry and asked if he worked here, not knowing who that is.”

A source revealed that the couple was “excited to decorate for Christmas” and was taking full advantage of California’s sunny and mild climate.

They told People: “They are very happy. Archie is thriving and growing quickly. As a family, they spend hours outside.”

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Meghan and Harry’s quiet first Christmas in California will have been far different to the rigid protocol of a traditional Sandringham Christmas with the Royal Family.

At Sandringham, the entire extended family attend, and each arrive in order of precedence.

Everything works like clockwork, from the gift-giving ceremony on Christmas Eve to the Boxing Day shoot.

The Queen also has a heartbreaking post-Christmas tradition.

She is the last to leave Sandringham House, remaining there until February 6, which is the date of her father’s death in 1952 and hence her accession to the throne.

On that day nearly 69 years ago, the Queen found out her father had died of coronary thrombosis at Sandringham aged just 56, while she was in Kenya on a royal tour.

She marks the day in private before returning to her duties at Buckingham Palace.

Her Majesty also insists the Christmas decorations stay up until she leaves, well past Twelfth Night, when decorations are usually taken down.

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Meghan is unlikely to leave her decorations up as long as the Queen, because she does not have the same connection to the date February 6.

What’s more, some people consider it unlucky to leave decorations up past Twelfth Night, which falls on January 5, or Epiphany, January 6.

Meghan, unfortunately, does not enjoy the close relationship with her father as the Queen did.

While she lived with her father when she was young, after her parents’ divorce, she has become estranged from him in recent years and Thomas Markle has expressed his sadness that his daughter no longer speaks to him.

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This year, it is unclear whether the Queen will leave the decorations up at Windsor Castle for as long as she leaves them up at Sandringham.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, she cancelled the usual Sandringham Christmas for the first time in over 30 years and spent the festive season with Prince Philip in Windsor.

The 94-year-old monarch and 99-year-old prince consort revealed their incredible decorations, which included a 20-foot-high Norway spruce tree, sourced from Windsor Great Park.

The tree sat in St George’s Hall, the largest room in the castle, and it was decorated with 3,000 lights and hundreds of iridescent ornaments.

Decorations are usually just as grand at Buckingham Palace, but more understated at Sandringham.

The Queen addressed the nation in her usual 3pm speech on Christmas Day this year, in which she praised people for coming together to help others in what has been a very difficult year.

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