Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the Queen “they will not spend Archie's first Christmas with her at Sandringham”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly told the Queen that they will not be spending Archie’s first Christmas with the monarch at her home in Norfolk.
It’s a move that royal experts have said is “very telling”.
The Sussexes will be taking a six-week break after Prince Harry’s last royal engagement and are likely to travel to the US and spend Thanksgiving with Meghan’s mother Doria, 63.
It had initially been thought that the family of three would return to Sandringham for Christmas, but they informed the Queen and Prince Philip of their plans to skip the family festivities.
Phil Dampier, author of the book Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words, told MailOnline: “If they had something else lined up, like a big family Christmas with her family and it was their turn, you could understand them dropping out, rather like William and Kate sometimes spend the day with the Middletons.
“But of course Meghan is estranged from everyone in her family apart from her mother, who they will probably see during their six-week break.
“So if they just don’t want to be with the Queen and the rest of the royals it is very telling and worrying.
“Maybe they will have time to reflect on their problems in the coming weeks and hopefully realise that thinking of themselves as victims and outsiders is not helping anyone.
“All families have their tensions at Christmas of course but this one is played out in the eyes of the world.”
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward said to The Sun that the event might be stressful for a young Archie.
“Christmas at Sandringham can be quite stressful so perhaps they don't want to go with Archie at such a young age.
“Having said that, Sandringham has played host to many many children through the ages and is well set up for them.”
Seward also commented on how it impacts the Queen.
“I think it's sad they don't want to be part of the family gathering, particularly now the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are in their dotage.
“The Queen might be a little hurt but she's far too gracious to ever let it show or be known.”
This will be the first time that Prince Harry hasn’t spent Christmas at the Queen’s Norfolk residence, barring 2012 when he was serving in Afghanistan.