Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be spending Christmas day at their home in California this year, marking their sixth festive season away from Harry’s royal relatives.

The couple, who quit life as senior royals in 2020, have spent every Christmas since 2019 away from the Royal Family, with their last Christmas at Sandringham having been in 2018 – the year they wed.

While Meghan, 43, and Harry, 40, have taken a step back from talking about the Royal Family this year, they have previously spoken in the past about what Christmas with the royals is really like.

This includes Meghan’s first Christmas in 2017, which Harry described as an “amazing time”.

Talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today show in December 2017, the Duke of Sussex revealed that the couple’s first Christmas together at Sandringham had involved spending a lot of time with Prince George, now 11, and Princess Charlotte, now nine. Prince Louis was not yet born at the time.

It is believed the couple stayed at Prince William and Princess Kate’s Amner Hall home while attending Sandringham for the daytime celebrations.

Harry said at the time: “The family loved having her there. There’s always that family part of Christmas [where] there’s always that work element there as well, and I think together we had an amazing time.

“We had great fun staying with my brother and sister-in-law and running round with the kids. Christmas was fantastic.”

The duke went on to describe the Royal Family as the family his wife had “never had”.

Years later in their 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, the duchess also spoke about how she felt attending the Royal Family Christmas celebrations in 2017 after her engagement to Prince Harry.

She said: “I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham, calling my mom, and she’s like ‘How’s it going?’ and I said ‘Oh my gosh it’s amazing’.

“It’s just like a big family like I always wanted. And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun.”

Since leaving the Royal Family in 2020, the couple have experienced some fractured relationships with some of Harry’s relatives, including his brother Prince William. It is believed the couple did not receive an invite to Sandringham this year, unsurprisingly.