I love Christmas, and I love decorating for Christmas! It is such a joyful time of year, and all of the fun, festive items always bring a smile to my face! While I enjoy decorating my own home, I cannot even begin to imagine taking on the task of decking the halls of a castle, like Buckingham Palace. Of course, the palace is already beautiful, but at Christmas time it is all aglow in lights, beautifully adorned trees, and plenty of garlands!
Many people attribute the tradition of the Christmas Tree in Britain to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, but the real credit goes to Queen Charlotte, the German wife of King George III. When she came from Germany to marry King George, she also brought many of her traditions with her and set up the first tree at Queen's Lodge, Windsor, in 1800. It was a Yew bough, however, not a fir tree. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria did help make the tree more popular many years later.
This year, the palace has three Christmas trees, the largest being a 15-foot Nordmann fir from Windsor Park Gardens; it is set up in the Marble Hall.
There are two smaller, ten-foot Nordmann firs that stand in the Grand Entrance - making everyone feel welcome and jolly!
The trees are all trimmed with twinkling fairy lights and elegant ornaments fit for royalty; they are, of course, miniature crowns!
It is such fun seeing how the palace is all decked-out for the Christmas season! How do you like to decorate? Do you go all out or keep it minimal? I'm usually somewhere in the middle.