Caption: A 10ft Nordmann fir stands in the Crimson Drawing Room Photo: Ben Murphy
Caption: Staff at Windsor Castle decorate the 24ft tree in St George's Hall Photo: Ben Murphy
Monarchs have celebrated Christmas at Windsor, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, since the 12th century.
George IV spent his childhood here, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert celebrated most Christmases here together, and our current Queen, who would perform wartime family pantomimes with Princess Margaret at the castle, continued to celebrate the festive period at Windsor until the late 1980s, when she started going to Sandringham House, her private residence in Norfolk. But the castle is close to her heart: she spends nearly every weekend here (visitors know she is there when the royal standard is flying) and her 90th birthday celebrations next April will all be at Windsor.
To celebrate Christmas the castle has been transformed into a triumphant show of crimson and gold, with a Regency theme to complement Royal Collection Trust’s bicentenary display of the Battle of Waterloo, which closes in January (Napoleon’s discarded cape is on display, along with several important works of art commissioned by the Prince Regent to celebrate the allies’ victory).
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