How Queen Victoria Celebrated Christmas: The Festive Traditions in the Royal Household

The way Queen Victoria (reign 1837-1901) and her family celebrated their Christmases became familiar to the public over the years, thanks to the intense media coverage of the royal family, particularly the regular features in popular illustrated magazines. Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert (1819-1861), made Christmas trees popular in Britain, and her children helped the idea of sending Christmas cards take off. Victoria and Albert loved to give gifts to each other, usually ones that reminded of what they had done together that particular year or included portraits of their children. The royal family also helped promote the idea of charitable deeds as the old year was replaced by the new, distributing Christmas trees, presents, food, and useful goods like blankets and coal to the poor.