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Family life was epitomised by the popular Queen Victoria, her husband Albert and their nine children. One of the most important Christmas traditions, the decorated Christmas tree, was a custom introduced to Britain by Prince Albert.
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Dec 8, 2020 · At the same time, on the 10th February 1840, Queen Victoria married the German Prince Albert, and Albert was passionate for his children to enjoy a Christmas tree just as he had done in his own childhood.
- William the Conqueror. Far from the cozy family affair of a traditional modern Christmas promoted by Victoria, medieval courtly gatherings were spectacular occasions for public demonstrations of wealth and power.
- Twelve Days of Christmas. The Tudor and Stuart periods marked a dazzling high point of Christmas revels among royalty and nobility. Christmas Day was reserved for serious religious devotions, but frivolity reigned through the rest of the Twelve Days of Christmas with a Lord of Misrule to oversee entertainments that scattered normal order and created merry mayhem, echoing the Roman Saturnalia.
- King Henry VIII. Henry VIII loved “disgysings,” or fancy dress, costing him £584 over just one Christmas. His daughter Elizabeth I was even more boisterous, with one court observer recording in 1572 that she had been entertained by “certayne masters of defence, that did challenge all comers at all weapons, as long-sworde, staff, sword and buckler, rapier with the dagger: and here were many broken heads, and one of the masters of defence dyed… The challenge was before the quenes Majestie who seems to have pleasure therein….”
- Queen Elizabeth I. Sword fights aside, courtly culture entered a golden age, with Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights much in demand over Christmas—Twelfth Night, for example, was probably performed before Elizabeth I's court during the revels of 1601-2.
Dec 2, 2016 · He came in asking the Children, who were somewhat awed & alarmed, — “are you a good child, & giving them gingerbread & apples.”. Entry from Queen Victoria’s journal on 24 December 1856. Below is a recipe for a type of honey gingerbread which is a traditional festive treat in Germany.
However, trees didn't become popular with the public until an illustration published in newspapers in the 1840s showed Victoria and Albert standing beside a decorated tree with their children. After seeing it, many people were inspired to copy the royal family and put up their own.
Dec 23, 2023 · Victoria and Albert themselves usually had several trees at Windsor Castle, where they typically spent the festive season: they had one each, and there was also one for Victoria’s...
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Victoria and Albert are so closely linked to the tradition because they were famously illustrated standing beside a decorated tree with their children. The engraving was published in the press in the 1840s and it quickly took hold of the national imagination.
