As the news that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry won’t be spending the festive period at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family sinks in, an incident involving the Queen one Christmas has come to light.
WATCH: Queen Elizabeth snaps when told not to wear crown
Queen Elizabeth II was left red-faced after a footman mistook her signals, and pulled out her chair while she was about to sit down.
Author Thomas Blaikie made the royal revelation in his 2015 book What A Thing To Say To The Queen as he described how Her Majesty “fell on her bum” during the royal family’s Christmas dinner.
In an excerpt of the book published in Hello!, the author wrote: “One Christmas Day, a junior footman thought the Queen was getting up from the table so he removed her chair for her.
“Unfortunately, she wasn’t and as the Queen went to sit back down she fell straight on the floor.”
Luckily, Queen Elizabeth wasn’t hurt and saw the funny side.
“Surprised but unhurt, the Queen was soon as amused as the rest of her family,” he wrote.
Queen Elizabeth is however said to be upset that Meghan and Harry have snubbed Sandringham this Christmas in favour of spending time in the States instead.
From the outside it looks like the Queen has given her blessing to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s plan to spend the festive period with Meghan’s mother.
However, although the official statement says the couple have the support of the Queen, according to sources, she has been left hurt by their decision.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward believes the decision will leave the Queen “hurt”.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, she explained: “Christmas at Sandringham can be quite stressful so perhaps they don’t want to go with Archie at such a young age.
“Having said that, Sandringham has played host to many many children through the ages and is well set up for them.”
“I think it’s sad they don’t want to be part of the family gathering, particularly now the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are in their dotage.
“The Queen might be a little hurt but she’s far too gracious to ever let it show or be known,” Ingrid said.
Meghan and Harry will take their leave after the Duke attends a Royal Albert Hall event on Sunday.
It’s unclear whether the Sussexes will spend Christmas in Doria’s hometown of LA, or elsewhere in the US.
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