Meghan Markle will join the Queen and other senior members of the royal family for Christmas at Sandringham, Kensington Palace has confirmed.
Ms Markle and fiance Prince Harry will be seen in public with other royals when they attend the traditional Christmas Day church service on the Queen’s private estate in Norfolk.
(Matt Dunham/PA)
The couple got engaged on November 27 and a few days later a proud Harry introduced his bride-to-be to the nation during a series of official events in Nottingham.
Buckingham Palace has said the Queen and other members of the royal family will join the congregation for the morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church on December 25.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “You can expect to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Ms Markle at Sandringham on Christmas Day.”
Christmas at Sandringham is likely to be the first of many for the American, who will wed Harry sometime in May in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
During a television interview to mark their engagement, Harry and Meghan revealed that the former actress had met the Queen.
But if she has not been introduced to the rest of the family, the Christmas gathering will be the opportunity to chat to the Princess Royal, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Duke of York and his daughters, who are all expected to attend.
The event also usually attracts hundreds of well-wishers who watch the royal party walk from Sandringham House to the nearby St Mary Magdalene Church, and make the return journey after the Christmas Day service is over.
Members of the royal family usually go on an impromptu walkabout, chatting to local residents, and this could be another opportunity for Ms Markle to meet more of the British public.
It is thought that William and Kate, who is pregnant with her third child, will not take their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to the Christmas Day church service.
There is speculation that Harry and his bride-to-be may stay with the Cambridges at their nearby home, Anmer Hall, but if they are accommodated by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at Sandringham they will follow a German tradition observed by generations of the royal family.
Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, a legacy of the German heritage of the monarchy.