For their first Christmas in America after stepping back as senior royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle bought a "magnificent" tree for their Montecito home.
The Duke of Sussex recalled they bought "one of the biggest spruces" from a pop-up in Santa Barbara, which they decorated with a very special ornament that paid tribute to his family in the UK. In keeping with the royals' festive traditions, the couple opened presents on Christmas Eve – and one from Meghan made Harry feel both "happy" and "weird."
© Getty"One present was a little Christmas ornament of...the Queen! I roared. What the—? Meg had spotted it in a local store and thought I might like it. I held it to the light. It was Granny’s face to a T.
"I hung it on an eye-level branch. It made me happy to see her there. It made Meg and me smile," he explained in his memoir, Spare.
© InstagramHowever, the happiness was short-lived as their son Prince Archie, then 19 months old, suffered an accident with the tree.
"But then Archie, playing around the tree, jostled the stand, shook the tree, and Granny fell. I heard a smash and turned. Pieces lay all over the floor.
"Archie ran and grabbed a spray bottle. For some reason he thought spraying water on the broken pieces would fix it. Meg said: No, Archie, no - do not spray Gan-Gan! I grabbed a dustpan and swept up the pieces, all the while thinking: This is weird."
© NetflixThe Duke and Duchess have also shared a peek inside their Christmas in 2019, which marked the first time Harry had not joined the royal family's traditional Sandringham celebrations.
During the making of their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, rented a secluded house in Vancouver which they decked out with a giant tree that stood in the centre of their double-storey lounge.
In a clip, Meghan was seen standing on a step ladder whilst decorating a tree covered with warm fairy lights and golden baubles. Archie was just seven months old at the time, so he was likely less destructive with their tree!
© Photo: PAIn the same docuseries, Meghan recalled her first Christmas with the royals in 2017, just one month after the couple announced their engagement.
"I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham," she said, adding: "There was just this constant movement and energy and fun."
She explained that she thought her conversation with Harry's late grandfather Prince Philip "went really well."
"At dinner, I was sat next to H’s grandfather and I just thought it was so wonderful. I was like, ‘Oh, we chatted and it was so great and I talked about this and talked about this.’
© Netflix"[Harry] was like, ‘You had this bad ear. He couldn’t hear anything you were saying.’ I was like, ‘Oh, well I thought it went really well,'" joked Meghan.
However, the Prince confirmed to Sarah Montague on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2017 that their first Christmas together was a huge success. "It was fantastic, she really enjoyed it," he said.
READ: Meghan Markle reveals sweet new Christmas tradition with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
