It’s always a highlight when any new member
of the royal family makes their debut on the walk to church for the Christmas
Day service in Sandringham.
Traditionally, the
Queen invites partners once they are married, but in a break from tradition,
both Meghan Markle and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi were invited to spend
the festive season with the royals before their respective marriages.
Meghan Markle surprised
royal fans as she made her debut at Sandringham in 2017, five months before she
and her husband tied the knot in Windsor. The newly-engaged couple walked
alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, earning them the nickname, the
“Fab Four”.
 |
| Meghan joined the royals in Sandringham in 2017 |
On his part,
property developer Edoardo proposed to Princess Beatrice in September 2019
and spent Christmas with the royal family that December. After their May 2020
wedding was postponed due to the pandemic, the couple tied the knot in an
intimate ceremony at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor in July 2020.
 |
| Princess Beatrice and Edoardo walked to church in 2019 |
The monarch will mark her first Christmas
without her beloved husband this year following Prince Philip’s death in April.
Buckingham Palace is yet to confirm the Queen’s plans for the festive period,
but she will reportedly host her family members at her Norfolk estate.
Last year, like thousands of families across
the UK, the royals celebrated Christmas separately due to the pandemic, with
the Queen and the Duke staying at Windsor Castle for the first time in 33
years.
