Princess Beatrice broke royal tradition as she followed in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s footsteps

Princess Beatrice broke royal tradition and followed her cousin Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s example last year. 

• Princess Beatrice (opens in new tab) broke this royal tradition, following in her cousin Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex's footsteps. 
• The two invited their partners to join the Royal Family's Christmas celebrations (opens in new tab), despite not being married yet. 
• In other Royal News (opens in new tab), the Queen has reportedly formed a new "firm of eight" senior royals (opens in new tab). 

The Royal Family are well known for their traditions, particularly at Christmas. From attending the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church to supposedly exchanging presents on Christmas Eve, there’s so much history in their festive plans (opens in new tab). Yet it seems that some of the younger royals aren’t quite so keen to observe certain festive customs (opens in new tab). 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) are often thought of when it comes to paving the way for change in the Royal Family. 

But they’re not the only ones as Harry’s cousin Princess Beatrice seems to have supported their way of thinking when it came to this royal tradition. 

What royal tradition did Princess Beatrice break?

Princess Beatrice and her now-husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi ignored one particular royal tradition last Christmas. Beatrice and Edoardo are thought to have begun dating in 2018 and married in an intimate ceremony (opens in new tab) earlier this year.

The happy couple spent Christmas with the wider Royal Family last year at the Sandringham estate (opens in new tab). 

However this meant that Princess Beatrice and Edoardo attended a royal event before being married.

Whilst this may not seem to be too surprising, tradition dictates that only members of the Royal Family join for the festivities.

Beatrice and Edoardo were engaged, but he was yet to officially become part of the Queen’s family.

When did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle break with this royal tradition?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were the first royals to break with this royal tradition. In 2017, the Duke of Sussex invited his then-fiancée Meghan to join the family at Sandringham for Christmas. 

The Express reports that PR advisors insisted at the time that Meghan’s attendance at the Royal Family’s Christmas celebration (opens in new tab) was necessary to avoid a row. Prince Harry went on to marry Meghan in May 2018.

Which family members weren’t allowed to ignore this royal tradition? 

Whilst Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice both brought their partners along, despite this royal tradition, many of their relatives weren’t able to do the same. 

Prince Harry’s older brother, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge might be the future king, but despite being engaged to Kate Middleton in November 2010, the future Duchess (opens in new tab) was reportedly not invited to attend.

According to Express.co.uk, a source back in 2017 claimed that “nor was Mike Tindall after his [engagement] to the Princess Royal's daughter Zara Phillips”. The source added that “only spouses and close family are usually invited”.

Though the source also suggested that “The monarchy relies heavily on precedent and tradition but it also makes its own”.

It could be that we see a few more royal traditions changing over the coming years.