Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had a busy year, including the Duke of Sussex’s Invictus Games in Canada back in February, and the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix specials.
However, when it comes to Christmas, the couple are planning a more lowkey celebration. Page Six reports that the pair intend to celebrate the holiday in their Montecito mansion with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. They will also be joined by Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
The report also revealed that the pair were going all out for their New Year’s celebrations, confirming that they would be heading abroad with a group of friends.
Christmas abroad
Harry and Meghan often spend the season with their children in California. In his memoir Spare, Harry shared an insight into his first Christmas in his new home with his family. “We took Archie to find a Christmas tree,” he wrote. “A pop-up lot in Santa Barbara.”
The royal continued: “We bought one of the biggest spruces they had. We brought it home, set it up in the living room. Magnificent. We stood back, admiring, counting our blessings. New home. Healthy boy. It was Christmas Eve. We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain. We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition.”
Meghan’s love of Christmas
Meghan has previously spoken about her love of the holiday season, telling Marie Claire in 2024: “At first, I think as a mum with children you’re just enjoying having them there, but they’re not understanding everything that’s happening yet. But now we’re at the age where I just can’t wait to see it through their lens every year.”
She explained more about her love for Christmas in the trailer for the holiday special of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. In a clip, Meghan said: “I love the holiday season. It’s about finding time to connect with the people we love, embracing traditions and making new ones.”
Meghan’s holiday special also saw her embracing several Christmas traditions, including crackers and advent calendars, with the mum-of-two handmaking them for her children. Speaking to her friend, Will Guidara about crackers, she said: “Living in the UK, it’s such a big part of the Christmas holidays… typically people cross arms and do it and they all pull at the same time.”
Putting together a satin brown cracker for Lilibet, Meghan reveals: “Lili really likes to be a grown-up lady at the moment. This is like a little lavender rollerball, I thought a little something like that.” She then proceeds to make one for Archie, which contains a toy burger: “Now I’m onto Archie’s [cracker]. I’m doing burgers and he loves the colour red.”
As for the advent calendars, Meghan added little gifts, including chocolates and handwritten notes into each of the pockets for the 24 days leading up to Christmas. One sweet note read: “I love you because you are so kind,” while another says, “I love you because you’re so brave”.
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