The Queen's Pre-Christmas Lunch Sounds Like A Wonderful Family Tradition

Queen Elizabeth II isn't the longest reigning monarch in the history of the world without good reason. Sure, she managed to outlive everyone but I also think she managed to outwit everyone. She's a wily fox, that Queen, especially when it comes to making her family hang out with her as often as possible. I mean, the Queen's pre-Christmas family lunch comes to mind as a pretty sly way to bring all of the busy royals together. Especially considering most of them will be tucking in at Sandringham in a few days to spend Christmas together on the actual day itself.

Now to be fair to Queen Elizabeth, the pre-Christmas lunch (which is planned for Wednesday) is a pretty long-held tradition in the royal family. Every year it is held at Buckingham Palace in London, with some of the more far-reaching royal family members all in attendance. Many of us on this side of the pond (that's British for the Atlantic Ocean) know a little something about the pre-Christmas lunch for one special reason; Meghan Markle. The new Duchess of Sussex is arguably the reason some people have all started to know all of the royal things in the first place. Last year Markle was newly engaged to Prince Harry, but this year the two are celebrating their first Christmas as a married couple.

This was also the first time some people saw Prince Harry driving Meghan Markle around and it was jarring in all of its normalcy.

This year, Queen Elizabeth is expecting a full complement of 50 royal family members including two new guests, as Hello! reported; Princess Eugenie's husband Jack Brooksbank and, of course, Prince William and Kate Middleton's youngest child Prince Louis, who was born on April 23.

Here's a picture of him, along with 3-year-old sister Princess Charlotte and 5-year-old brother Prince George, so you can imagine him in some sort of fancy Christmas sweater with his hilarious tights.

Aside from the royals people all tend to recognize as household names like Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince Andrew, and Princess Anne, there will be some less familiar royals on hand like Prince Michael of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester, and Lady Amelia Windsor, as Hello! Canada reported. Presumably Princess Michael of Kent will also be on hand, though some might remember her as the woman who appeared to wear the racist brooch to lunch with Meghan Markle at last year's event and caused an uproar, as per Harper's Bazaar.

I hope everyone is super nice to Queen Elizabeth at her pre-Christmas lunch this year. After all, she is 92 years old and she has a pretty packed schedule over the Christmas holiday season. First, she has to take the public train to Sandringham House in Norfolk for Christmas just as she always does. Then she attends services, twice, on Christmas day at St. Mary Magdalene Church. After that it's on to her annual televised Christmas Day speech, a tradition her grandfather King George V started with his first radio address in 1932.

So here's my hot take; sure, imposing a tradition of a pre-Christmas lunch with your busy family (many of whom are working in your service) might seem like overkill. But you know what? Queen Elizabeth deserves it. She's got a pretty busy schedule herself, she's still working at 92, and she still seems pretty together.

If the royal family was Survivor, she would have already won. And the prize she wants is lunch with her family, so everyone be nice — and make sure to show up on time.

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