Meghan Markle ‘won’t spend Christmas morning with Prince Harry’ as royal men traditionally have breakfast in a separate room, etiquette expert reveals
Royal men and women traditionally spend the first half of the morning in their separate living quarters, according to Palace insiders
IT may be their first Christmas together as a married couple - and their last before they become parents - but Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will spend the first few hours of the holiday in separate quarters.
According to insiders, Royal women remain in their bedrooms at Sandringham for their first meal of the day while the men go downstairs at 8:30am sharp for a hearty breakfast.
Writing for the , the Queen's former chef Darren McGrady said: "On Christmas Day, the ladies generally opt for a light breakfast of sliced fruit, half a grapefruit, toast and coffee delivered to their rooms."
And while the women's Christmas Day gets off to a relaxing start, the "male Royals, meanwhile, come downstairs to the dining room for a hearty breakfast at 8:30am with eggs, bacon and mushrooms, kippers and grilled kidneys, to set them up for the 11am church service at St Mary Magdalene."
What's more, the Royal butler turned Grant Harrold told Fabulous Online: "In a lot of aristocratic homes, it does still happen that the men will have breakfast downstairs while the women have breakfast in their bedroom."
But why do the Royal Family abide by this annual Christmas tradition?
Grant added: "The reason it happens is because it's an old tradition that when a couple are married, the gentleman would come down for breakfast and the ladies would remain upstairs."
However, this is only the case for married aristocratic women.
The etiquette expert - who worked at Highgrove for Prince Charles and Camilla for seven years - added: "All the ladies would have breakfast in bed apart from the single ladies.
"The single ladies have to be seen as 'sociable' whereas the ladies who were married didn't have to come down and socialise."
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