The controversial Christmas decoration the Royal Family steer clear of

There’s a controversial Christmas decoration the Royal Family steer clear of putting on their Christmas trees and you might not have noticed.

If you’re looking for Christmas decorating ideas it doesn’t come much more luxurious or spectacular than the Royal Family’s many Christmas trees. But when it comes to adding festive touches to their homes it seems there’s one rather controversial Christmas decoration the Royal Family steer away from adding to their trees. Former royal butler Grant Harrold who worked for King Charles for seven years until 2011 has previously claimed that the royals aren’t fans of using tinsel.

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Coming in a range of colours and finishes, tinsel is a stunning Christmas staple for many whilst others find the plastic material an absolute no-go, preferring to go with more environmentally-conscious options. Apparently the Royal Family fall into this second category as Grant suggested to The Mirror that they prefer keeping to lights and baubles.

He advised, "Don't overdo it with the tinsel” and alleged, “Everybody gets the tinsel but if you go to a royal home, it is a lot more greenery, baubles and lights, not tinsel."

This is certainly the case in all the Christmas trees we’ve had a sneak peek of over the years. Queen Camilla traditionally invites children supported by Helen & Douglas House and Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity to decorate the Christmas tree at Clarence House. They typically choose beautiful baubles, lights and gorgeous ornaments in festive shapes like candy canes as we saw last year, but not tinsel.

Meanwhile, in the background of the late Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas speeches that she recorded at the likes of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, the Christmas trees were visible and were also bare of tinsel. In its place each of these magnificent trees was covered with a huge array of baubles and twinkling lights.

The same was true of the Christmas trees seen outside Windsor Castle in December 2020 when Queen Elizabeth and other senior royals gathered to thank local volunteers and key workers who would be volunteering over Christmas. The Princess of Wales also seems to be more of a fan of lights and ornaments as we saw recently in a special post announcing that the Together at Christmas carol concert would be happening again this year.

Kate’s Fair Isle jumper was her cosy knit of choice for a spot of Christmas decorating in the first picture and only lights and baubles could be seen. So it seems that tinsel remains a Christmas decoration the Royal Family steer clear of when they’re decorating their own trees too. Many fans might not have noticed given how beautiful the finished Christmas trees look.

Our Lifestyle Editor Tamara Kelly believes that tinsel has started to fall out of favour a little recently, revealing that it can often be an "overpowering" tree decoration.

"Tinsel has not been so popular in recent years, and I think it's because modern trees use more decorations than years gone by so there's less need for filler," she said. "Tinsel is a very overpowering decoration when used on a tree therefore it doesn't allow all the individual decorations to command the attention they deserve."

Tamara went on to reflect that, "John Lewis did a big campaign a few years ago to bring Tinsel back into fashion" and that in her opinion "it seems to be working for their customer, with their 'mild steel and metallised PVC' tinsel being best-sellers in a variety of colours". However she wonders whether "this is being used for mantle displays and garlands rather than trees."

When it comes to Kate's particular choice of a Nordmann Fir tree for Christmas, Tamara believes it's a clever move not to choose tinsel.

"Kate is wise not to choose tinsel for dressing a Nordmann Fir tree because the fullness of this tree variety doesn't require filling between the branches, a simple set of lights is plenty to make it look stunning," she said.

Kate in particular is known for having a preference of the type of Christmas tree she has. As reported by Hello! in 2019, the Princess of Wales visited Peterley Manor Farm and apparently spoke to the farm’s owner, Roger Brill, about the different varieties. 

"It was an honour to have her here,” he said, before claiming, “We chatted about how long we've been farming here, and she was asking me about different types of Christmas trees. She said they now have a Nordmann fir which doesn't drop needles."

This is a very practical choice and it’s the same variety that will be in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle this festive season. This year’s tree will be 20-foot-high and will be topped with a Garter Star, as per the Royal Collection Trust, in honour of the 675th anniversary of the Order of the Garter. 

Tamara Kelly

Tamara is a highly experienced homes and interiors journalist, with a career spanning 20 years. Tamara has spent the last 17 years working with the style teams at, Woman & Home, Country Homes & Interiors and Ideal Home, and it’s with these award-winning teams that she gained a wealth of knowledge and honed her skills and passion for shopping, styling and writing about every aspect of lifestyle and interiors.