12 Celebrities Share Their Christmas Memories

"I will never forget when I was about 12, and my mother told my siblings and me that we would not be receiving Christmas gifts because there wasn't enough money. I remember at the time that I felt sad and thought: 'What would I say when the other kids asked what I had gotten?' Just when I started to accept that there would not be a Christmas that year, three nuns showed up at our house with gifts for us. There was a turkey, a fruit basket, and some games, and for me, there was a doll." -- Oprah Winfrey

"What makes me feel Christmassy? The lights on Oxford Street and the smell of turkey marinating." -- Dawn French

"The one thing women don't want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband." -- Joan Rivers

"The best thing about Christmas is the present choosing, putting up tons of fairy lights, and hanging up the stockings on Christmas Eve." -- Fern Britton

"My fantasy Christmas is spent in a seaside cottage in Dorset, with a log fire and the sound of waves. It?s cosy, cottagey and Christmassy!" -- Fiona Phillips

"For a few days each year, we become a proper community: everyone rushing about doing the same preparations, sharing the same feast and most of us sharing the same holiday." -- Delia Smith

"What makes me feel Christmassy? Ooh, the shopping. I know some people can't bear it, but I love it." -- Marian Keyes

"The best thing about Christmas is the wonder of young children when they find the chomped carrot and empty glass of sherry on Christmas morning, the taste of that first buttered sprout, the post-lunch snooze and winning at Monopoly." -- Jane Moore

"The best thing about Christmas is our routine. We go to church, open presents, drink Champagne, eat smoked salmon then turkey, watch the Queen, play some games, maybe read. The only variable is what film we watch in the evening. By the time the debate is over, it's time for another meal, and then bed!" -- Victoria Hislop

"The emphasis on Christmas Day is always on family and the opportunity to see each other. We have Champagne for breakfast, then just carry on all day." -- Zoe Wanamaker

“Decorating the tree is like opening a memory box for us.” -- Amanda Redman