Charles hosts a large family Christmas with 45 royals at Sandringham to celebrate amidst the King’s cancer fight, including a special guest of the Queen – who made the cut?

Complete with its own quirky traditions, Christmas is as special a time for the Royal Family, as it is for us all.

But the gathering for the Windsors is bigger than most. 

This week, the Prince of Wales announced that he will be celebrating Christmas on December 25 with a large group of 45 people at Sandringham, which is his father’s private estate located in Norfolk.

During a seasonal event for families of the 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment in his capacity as colonel-in-chief at Bulford, Wiltshire, on Tuesday, William expressed his excitement for the upcoming festive season but admitted that he felt unprepared for it.

While chatting with one family, William candidly mentioned that he was not ready for Christmas at all. He also shared his anticipation for spending the holiday with 45 family members all gathered in a single room, highlighting that they are usually spread out on other occasions.

Those invited to Sandringham can look forward to a mixture of the traditional and some festive fun of the Royal Family’s own making.

The Royals open their presents on Christmas Eve in a nod to the family’s German origins. 

They lay out their gifts on trestle tables and exchange them at teatime – and are known to enjoy giving each other novelty presents, typically buying things that are cheap and will make people laugh rather than spending a lot on big, lavish gifts. 

For instance, Prince William reportedly gave his late grandmother a pair of slippers emblazoned with her face. 

Kate, the Princess of Wales, however, opted for something safer for Queen Elizabeth – a jar of homemade chutney.

They then don black tie for a dinner on Christmas Eve. 

The following day, the Royals attend the service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate, where they are greeted by well-wishers, before returning for a traditional lunch of roast turkey and all the trimmings. 

They sit down ready to eat at 1.15pm sharp, according to Queen Elizabeth II’s former chef Darren McGrady, who catered for Christmas at Sandringham frequently in the 1980s and 1990s.

On Christmas night, they are said to play parlour games including charades and bingo.

While this year’s guest list has not been officially announced or confirmed, the Queen’s son Tom Parker Bowles, 49, has said that he will be there for the first time at his mother’s request.

As Queen Camilla recovers from a bout of pneumonia and amid the King’s battle with an undisclosed form of cancer, Mr Parker Bowles said it had been ‘a hell of a two years for them’.

The invitation has always been open to him, but perhaps it is those health issues that have prompted him to accept this year. 

Describing his mother as a ‘resilient woman’, he told the Daily Telegraph: ‘My mum said, “I’d love you to come, I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time.”’

He added: ‘The older you get, the more conscious you become of mortality, especially with illnesses and the rest of it.

The Queen’s son confesses that he knows little of what is in store, only that ‘there’s turkey and sprouts and church. And I have to bring a suit and a dinner jacket.’

But who else is likely to be there among the 45 joining William?

Well, given the size of the Royal Family – even if you discount the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who are unlikely to attend – it doesn’t take long to get the numbers up, and then there’s other members of Camilla’s family, too. 

So it could shape up something like this:

1) The King

2) The Queen

3) The Princess of Wales

4, 5, 6) William and Kate’s children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6

7, 8) The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence

9, 10, 11) Peter Phillips (son of Princess Anne) and his daughters Savannah, 13, and Isla, 12

12, 13, 14, 15, 16) Zara Tindall (daughter of Princess Anne), her husband Mike Tindall, and their children Mia, 10, Lena, 6, and Lucas, 3

 17, 18, 19, 20) The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and their children Lady Louise, 21, and James, Earl of Wessex, 16

21) The Duke of York

22) The Duchess of York. Fergie, Andrew’s ex-wife, was on the guest list in 2022, though not on the church walkabout. It was her first time at a Sandringham Christmas lunch since 1991. Last Christmas she joined other royals on their Christmas Day church visit, too.

23) Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s daughter Princess Beatrice

24, 25) Princess Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and their daughter Sienna, 3

26, 27, 28, 29) Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s daughter Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their children August, 3, and Ernest, 18 months

30, 31, 32) Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles with his children, Lola, 17, and Freddy, 14

33, 34, 35, 36, 37) Camilla’s daughter Laura Lopes, her husband Harry, and their children Eliza, 15, and 13-year-old twins Gus and Louis

38) Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot, who is one of her close personal aides – a group that was known as Ladies-in-Waiting but Camila has renamed the Queen’s Companions’

39, 40, 41, 42) The King’s artist cousin Lady Sarah Chatto and her husband Daniel, and their children Arthur and Samuel

43, 44, 45) David Armstong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (Lady Sarah’s brother), and his children Lady Margarita, 22, and Charles, 25