Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal Christmas tradition they've kept despite Megxit
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When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to California, they forged a brand new life, leaving behind the formalities they were once used to. Whilst Meghan's home turf is the sunshine of California, for Harry, it meant a total break from pretty much everything he had ever known - and a whole new environment to which they had to adapt their family life as a couple. Since leaving life as working royals behind, the Sussexes have not been shy about airing their grievances with some of the other royals and have opened up repeatedly about the struggles they faced as a family living in the bright spotlight that is constantly trained on the House of Windsor.
Despite how quickly the pair seemed to settle into the rhythm of things in California, some habits die hard - particularly when it comes to the festive season. Prince Harry has revealed that there is one aspect of a royal Christmas that he still keeps up with his family in California, when he and Meghan celebrate the festive season with their two children: Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
Harry made the admission that he keeps this tradition up in his memoir Spare, when he described his and Meghan's first festive season in their new home. "It was Christmas Eve," the Duke of Sussex wrote, "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.".
The royals have exchanged their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day for nearly two centuries, and it is a nod to their German heritage, where this is the normal custom. This tradition is said to have been instituted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - Victoria's husband was German and also helped popularise the use of Christmas trees in the UK, another imported custom.
