The Royal Family’s Christmas celebration at their Sandringham estate is a blend of tradition and grandeur, complete with strict Royal protocols.

Mike Tindall, who married Zara Tindall in 2011, offers an insider’s glimpse into the regal festivities that occur just before the Sandringham gathering.

At the highly-anticipated Royal Christmas lunch, only the most senior royals and adult family members are privileged to sit at the formal table—meanwhile, the younger royals like Prince Louis have their own festive meal in a separate room.

In 2019, Tindall got candid about these Royal Yuletide practices on his rugby-themed podcast ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby,’ where he and co-stars James Haskell and Alex Payne dished about the event’s seating hierarchy.

Being questioned by James and Alex with a hint of mirth: “Do you find yourself upgrading every year and getting closer to the main table or are you off out the back? ” The pair followed up jokingly: “Is there a promotion and relegation based on the year’s performance? Because if there is I imagine you’re pretty much sitting on the right-hand side of Her Majesty.”

Tindall then detailed: “This is the family lunch, there were seven tables so there must have been about 70 of us there.”

“The kiddies have their own little one in a different room.”, reports the Express.

Prince Louis has a good relationship with his uncle Mike ( 

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(Image: Getty))

This year, King Charles hosted the Christmas lunch on December 19 at Buckingham Palace. The Prince and Princess of Wales were absent as they had already traveled to Norfolk’s Amner Hall for the start of the Christmas holidays.

The Buckingham Palace lunch is a private event for senior royals and their extended family who will not be attending the Christmas festivities at the King’s Norfolk residence. Family members were seen arriving at Buckingham Palace on December 19, including His and Her Majesty, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Prince Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Eugenie with her husband Jack Brooksbank.

Also present were Lord Frederick Windsor, his wife Sophie Winkleman and their daughter Isabella; the Duke of Kent; Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and other wider members of the Firm. Earlier, the Duke of York withdrew from the Christmas meal due to controversy over his connections to an alleged Chinese spy.

Yang Tengbo, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted, has insisted it was “entirely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has “done nothing wrong or unlawful”. The duke’s office said Andrew “ceased all contact” with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns were first raised about him.

Prince Andrew has also withdrawn from joining senior royals at Sandringham for the festive period.