Meghan Markle Spent Christmas This Way Before Dating Prince Harry

Meghan Markle spent Christmas very differently growing up compared to how she does now as a member of the royal family.

In the past, the Duchess of Sussex herself detailed how she celebrated the occasion with her family when she was much younger.

“My parents came from so little so they made a choice to give a lot: buying turkeys for homeless shelters at Thanksgiving, delivering meals to people in hospices, giving spare change to those asking for it. It’s what I grew up seeing, so it’s what I grew up being: a young adult with a social consciousness to do what I could and speak up when I knew something was wrong,” she wrote in her essay for Elle UK.

Last year, while she was engaged to Prince Harry, Markle was invited to attend the Christmas celebrations of the royal family by Queen Elizabeth II. She went to Sandringham and attended the church service at St. Magdalene Church with her then-fiancé, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles and more.

This year, she is expected to join in the fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But this year’s festivity is more special because Her Majesty invited Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland, to also spend Christmas with them.

Kathryn Knight, a journalist for Express, spoke to a palace source who revealed the real reason why the Queen invited Ragland, but never extended the same gesture to Middleton’s mom Carole Middleton.

“It’s a mark of the Queen’s respect for Meghan and an acknowledgment that she doesn’t have any other relations in this country – unlike Kate who has the support of a very close family,” the source said.

In related news, Sarah Ferguson recently shared what Christmas is really like with the royal family.

“After a luggage is unloaded, there will be a present-giving ceremony after tea. There are mainly useful things, such as homemade jams, China, or curios bought from county fairs,” she told Grazia magazine.

A black-tie dinner also takes place on the eve of Christmas every year in Sandringham. The Royals are arranged accordingly in a boy-girl, boy-girl order.