A Royal Christmas

We stuck with tradition and had our Christmas presents and dinner on Christmas eve. However, this year we opened a bottle of Moet that we were given for the wedding last year. It went down rather well....a little too well. Sailor and Penny loved their toys and their bone, we didn't see them all night. However, they made the same mistake as their mummies. They ate too much and one was sick in the night. It's like having kids! Luckily though, they don't wake us at 3am to see if Father Christmas has been.

Instead, I woke us at 6am because I really wanted to go to Sandringham to see the Royal Family go to church. Driving to Sandringham at 7am, there were very few cars, few lights on houses. I wondered how many families were opening presents as we drove through the dark. It took a couple of hours to get to Sandringham and as we went down the drive, lots of people were parking on the verge. Panic parking, the car park only had 2 cars in it!

We stood in the queue for an hour, then Ali took Sailor and Penny around Sandringham Wood because they were bored. The gates were opened at 10am, then it was a rush to get a prime spot. I was adopted into the family that I met in the queue, they had been before so I followed. The trick is to go over to the far side, with the sun to your back, and stand on the corner because you will then see the Queen, the Royals and the children giving the flowers. We were too late for that, so we were nearer the gate.

Only one count of queue rage, an Austraian lady behind me was rather short and kept shouting about how her viewpoint has gone. Try standing in the queue for over 2 hours! Then you might be at the front. I didn't have much patience.

We waited for an hour, there were so many people with bunches of flowers. I had a big group of Americans from Mississippi in front of me. They turned out to be a godsend, one girl has quite a knack of getting the Royal family to speak to her. Especially William because she said her husband if deployed in Afghanistan so she is spending Christmas here!

The Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew led the family to the church. It was quite a march, they went at quite a pace. I was surprised at the number of people that left, however, it meant I got a front row spot. During the service, we were given the words for the carols and the singing from the church was played on speakers. All the children were invited to go with the police to meet the Royal Family. Some in their Sunday best with gorgeous posy's.

Then each of the members of the Royal Family walked back to the house. Camilla was one of the first and stopped in front of me and asked what's on my hat! I explained it's a polar bear :) She said something like 'very nice', it definitely made her smile. They were all so elegant. The girl from Mississippi was stood next to me and she called William, who stood right in front of me. They are all so much taller than I thought they would be.

I absolutely loved it. While I was seeing the other members of the family, Ali, Sailor and Penny was waiting in the line to see the Queen! They waved.

We then went to Tichwell Marshes for a beach walk. Sadly, the boardwalk was ripped apart from the storms and a lot of the dunes have been washed away. It's still one of our most favourite beaches though.