As they bask in the glow of their engagement news, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now preparing to spend Christmas together before they become husband and wife.
And as a newly-engaged couple, Harry and his bride-to-be may be invited to spend Christmas with Queen and the rest of the royals at Sandringham this year.
It is thought that the 36-year-old actress will secure an invite to the traditional festivities following the announcement of the engagement.
It would breakaway from tradition however, as Kate was not invited to join Prince William for Christmas in 2010 despite announcing their engagement a month before.
Harry and his bride-to-be may be invited to spend Christmas with Queen and the rest of the royals at Sandringham this year
At Sandringham tradition and formality – including daily visits to church and several changes of dress a day – is the norm during the Christmas celebration. Pictured, the Queen and Prince Philip at Sandringham in January 2017
Both Christmas and the wedding details are still being drawn up – with the hotly-anticipated wedding guest list yet to be announced.
But among the guests could be former US president Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, whom Harry forged a strong bond with through his work with servicemen and his trips to America.
Meghan was not invited to join the royal family’s celebrations last year
Among the royals expected to go to Sandringham on Christmas Eve are Prince Harry, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence and Prince Edward with his wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and their children, Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn.
Meghan was not invited to join the royal family’s celebrations last year with it considered unprecedented as the invite is usually reserved for close family.
But with a wedding on the way Meghan is expected to be welcomed to the three-day celebrations in the Norfolk home.
William and Kate have missed the royal celebrations once previously – back in 2012 – when Kate was pregnant with her son and suffering from an acute form of morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum.
But they re-joined the family at the Queen’s 20,000-acre Norfolk estate for Prince Philip’s traditional Boxing Day pheasant shoot.
At Sandringham tradition and formality – including daily visits to church and several changes of dress a day – is the norm during the Christmas celebrations.
Everything from their arrival time to when they eat breakfast, walk the dogs, sit down to lunch and retire to bed is strictly timetabled. Even lunch on Christmas Day is pencilled in for just 50 minutes.
Harry and Meghan will experience a deeply traditional Christmas at the 20,000-acre Norfolk estate
The Queen and Prince Philip are already in residence when the first junior Royals arrive before 9am on Christmas Eve, many driving themselves through Sandringham’s imposing gates. More senior members follow shortly afterwards.
Over the next three days, Harry and Meghan will experience a deeply traditional Christmas, but one that the Royals have uniquely personalised, including ‘cheap and cheerful’ gifts given on Christmas Eve and a liking for charades at which the Queen – a superb mimic – always shines.
Prince Philip leads the family on the 330-yard walk to the 16th Century church of St Mary Magdalene on Christmas morning. The Queen, however, is driven. The service is always about 45 minutes, the Queen having received Communion privately in the morning.
The Royals enjoy bespoke Christmas crackers made by Dorset company Celebration Crackers. Everyone wears paper hats except the Queen. Party games are popular, as are cards.
For lunch on Christmas Eve, the men wear suits and the women wear smart silk dresses, but they change into black tie and glamorous gowns for dinner. It’s the one time the women wear their most expensive jewellery and almost all wear tiaras.
On Christmas Day, they come down for breakfast dressed in their church outfits – usually a day dress or a smart suit with pearls for the women. For the traditional walk to church, the men don warm overcoats.