Introducing The Royal Tradition Of Getting Weighed Before Christmas Dinner

Nov 12, 2021

The last thing that most of us want to think of during the holiday season is our weight. After stuffing ourselves with roast goose, Christmas ham, mashed potatoes and too much gravy, it doesn’t take a genius to know that we might put on a pound — or a few. But according to a royal expert, Queen Elizabeth II makes it a point to weigh her guests before and after their royal Christmas meal. Why, you might ask? According to an interview with royal expert Ingrid Seward in a 2018 issue of Grazia, the tradition dates back to the days of King Edward VII. He had his guests weigh themselves to see how much they had enjoyed themselves. Guests who had had a good time (i.e., stuffed themselves) were expected to gain three pounds.

The queen, according to Seward, continues this tradition today.

Seward offered other insights into royal holiday traditions. According to the royal expert, the festivities often begin with a present opening ceremony, where gifts are put out onto a table with white linen tablecloths. The gifts, however, aren’t “extravagant.” Rather, they are mostly made up of small, practical presents, “such as homemade jams, china or curios bought from country fairs.”

Gift opening is followed by “lethal martinis and a black-tie dinner,” according to Seward. As for Christmas day, there’s an 11 a.m. church service, a lunch with turkey and a candlelit dinner.

However, it remains to be seen how the queen will celebrate this Christmas, as the coronavirus pandemic makes large gatherings risky. Last year, the queen spent Christmas away from family at Windsor Castle. 

Nevertheless, the fact remains that strange, outdated traditions are rather commonplace in the royal family. For example, even if you’re lucky enough to meet Kate Middleton in person and want her signature as a souvenir, the Duchess of Cambridge is banned from signing autographs.

The reasoning behind the long-established rule — one of many seemingly random royal regulations — is that handing out royal signatures to strangers would increase the risk of forgery.

Middleton isn’t the only royal who has to follow the rule either. In fact, the queen, Prince Harry, Prince William and really anyone in the royal family is forbidden from giving out their John Hancock, according to Reader’s Digest. Despite the regulation, however, the magazine reports that Prince Charles did give out his autograph back in 2010 after he signed an autograph for a natural disaster victim. But since then, news outlets have yet to report another violation.

But don’t despair. Although you might not be able to get a royal signature from a living member of the monarchy, there are a few other options provided you have the extra cash. According to Reader’s Digest, a late 16th-century document bearing Queen Elizabeth I — not to be confused with the current queen, Elizabeth II — was up for sale in 2016 for $27,500. The logic is probably that forging a 400-year-old queen’s signature won’t do you any good.

For those of you who follow the royal family in all its intricacies, you should be no stranger to the many bizarre and perplexing rules that monarchs have to follow.

Beyond not being able to give out their autographs, Reader’s Digest details a whole slew of strict and seemingly arbitrary royal regulations. Children of the royal family, for example, are banned from playing with certain toys and wearing pants.

And let’s say that the Duchess of Cambridge finds herself with a craving for lobster while vacationing off the coast of Cape Cod. Well, according to the rules, royals are not allowed to eat crustaceans in public.

Again, the logic behind the rule isn’t as ridiculous as you might think. According to The Sun, members of the royal family aren’t only discouraged from eating shellfish while traveling but also from eating rare meat and drinking tap water, all in service of avoiding food poisoning. And while these rules might seem like silly guidelines from the past that no one follows anymore, The Sun reports that the queen has always stuck to the rules, though younger members of the royal family have had more liberal interpretations of the regulations.

So if you do get the chance to meet a royal or attend a royal dinner, just remember to make sure you have an appetite, don’t ask for an autograph and don’t invite them out for seafood. Who knows what would happen if Buckingham Palace caught Kate eating a lobster in public.

But with the queen’s recent health scare and Harry and Meghan’s in the U.S., it remains to be seen how the royals will celebrate Christmas this year. Preliminary reports suggest that the queen is “totally committed” to hosting family at Sandringham this year.

What do you think about the royal family’s Christmas traditions? What do you do during the holidays? Let us know — and be sure to pass this story on to others.