(NewsNation) — Similar to many families around the world, members of the British royal family will gather under one roof, or in their case, one big roof, to celebrate the holidays.
For decades, the royals have spent Christmas at Sandringham House, King Charles’s country estate in Norfolk, U.K.
In the sixties, when Queen Elizabeth II’s children were small, Christmases were spent at Windsor Castle, where they normally spent Easter, according to The Palace. However, since 1988, the family has brought in not only Christmas but the New Year at Sandringham.
Guess who’s coming to dinner?
In long-standing German-inspired tradition, the formal dinner will be held on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day, according to Elle Decor.
Members of the royal family, including King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate with their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and other senior royals with their families, are also expected to attend this year’s dinner, the Mirror reported.
Guess who isn’t coming to dinner?
Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, aren’t expected to attend this year’s festivities, following controversy over their past ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The former Duke of York was stripped of his royal titles and was ousted from his royal residence by his brother Charles.
Prince Harry, Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are also not expected to attend.
What’s for dinner?
The Christmas menu doesn’t change much year-to-year, former royal chef Darren McGrady told Elle Decor.
Queen Elizabeth II making her first ever Christmas broadcast to the nation from Sandringham House, Norfolk, 25th December 1952. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 
Christmas stockings created by members of the King’s Foundation Sewing Bee group, which have been made using curtains repurposed from the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, are hung from the fireplace in the Yellow drawing room at Dumfries House, which is part of The King’s Foundation near Cumnock, Ayrshire. The stockings will be sold at auction to raise funds for the charity. Picture date: Tuesday November 25, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images) 
KING’S LYNN, ENGLAND – JANUARY 13: A general view of the Norwich Gates on the Sandringham Estate as Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex meets with Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge to discuss his future with the Royal family on January 13, 2020 in King’s Lynn, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) 
A general view of Sandringham House a royal residence on the Sandringham Estate in North Norfolk in England on Wednesday 19th July 2023 (Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images) 
FILE – Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive to attend the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, England on Dec. 25, 2023. Upon receiving his first treatment for cancer, Britain’s King Charles III retreated to Sandringham House, a private estate. That’s where the monarch has long taken refuge while walking and shooting along the windswept North Sea coast of eastern England. Sandringham, the private home of the last six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
The meal is expected to include roast turkey served with sage and onion stuffing, roast and mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables such as Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, pigs in blankets, rich gravy, and bread sauce.
There will reportedly be an after-dinner buffet that will feature various meats.
Royal family Christmas traditions
On Christmas Day, the family will walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church, where crowds will be able to see the family, but not before the men and women have separate breakfasts, according to the Mirror.
McGrady told the Mirror that the women usually have a lighter breakfast consisting of “sliced fruit, half a grapefruit, toast, and coffee”, while the men eat a full English breakfast with eggs, bacon, mushrooms, black pudding, kippers and grilled kidneys.
During the Christmas lunch, members of the royal family will open “Christmas Crackers,” which are cardboard paper tubes, wrapped in brightly colored paper and twisted at both ends, while pulling out and wearing silly Christmas hats found inside, according to Marie Claire.
“Everyone, even the king, wears paper hats from inside the crackers,” royal author Robert Jobson told Hello! Magazine.