In “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” we watched as the queen decorated a Christmas tree, but did you know that actually happened? Learn more about the real-life tradition!
In the third episode of Queen Charlotte, fans were treated to a glimpse of the beloved Bridgerton character preparing to celebrate her favorite holiday. As the episode opens, the queen (Golda Rosheuvel) instructs her servants to decorate a splendid Christmas tree. “More color,” she insists. “It is Christmas!” Later, she and her secretary Brimsley (Hugh Sachs) have a tense chat, during which she demands “more gold” for the tree, which is lit with candles. While these scenes may seem like a nice background for more important dramas, they contain a notable historically accurate fact.
The real Queen Charlotte, like her on-screen counterpart, did decorate and display Christmas trees annually — something that wasn’t done in England prior to her reign. In fact, Queen Charlotte and her husband, King George III, are credited with bringing the tradition of a Christmas tree to the country, thanks in part to her upbringing in Germany. It’s a tradition that was passed down through the royal family, eventually becoming popularized by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who solidified the festive ritual in British society.
Even prior to making their debut in England, Christmas trees had been part of festive celebrations for centuries. In ancient Rome, fir trees decorated the temples during Saturnalia, a festival in honor of the god Saturn. They were used both as adornments and as a symbol of everlasting life, according to Historic UK. In Northern Europe, the Druids decorated temples with evergreen boughs, while the Vikings used evergreen mistletoe. But actual Christmas trees appear to have originated in Germany around the 16th century. History.com notes that it is widely believed that 16th-century Protestant reformer Martin Luther is the person who first added lit candles to a tree.
Before she married King George III, Queen Charlotte grew up in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, bringing along several customs from Germany when she moved to England. These included setting up a yew branch adorned with candles and gifts. In 1800, she opted to set up an entire yew tree in the Queen’s Lodge in Windsor as a spectacle for the children. Dr. John Watkins, who was present for the party, wrote, “Here, among other amusing objects for the gratification of the juvenile visitors, in the middle of the room stood an immense tub with a yew tree placed in it, from the branches of which hung bunches of sweetmeats, almonds, and raisins in papers, fruits, and toys most tastefully arranged and the whole illuminated by small wax candles. After the company had walked round and admired the tree, each child obtained a portion of the sweets, which it bore together with a toy, and then all returned home quite delighted.”
Evergreens, holly, and ivy had previously been part of holiday decor (“Deck the Halls,” with a reference to “boughs of holly,” originated in Wales in the 16th century), but this was considered England’s first Christmas tree. It caught on in upper-class circles, although at the time, it didn’t catch on with the common folk. That happened later, during Victoria and Albert’s rule.
“It has become the accepted way we celebrate Christmas now,” Kathryn Jones, senior curator at the Royal Collection Trust, told the BBC in 2010. “Queen Victoria’s mother was German as well, so the royal family did have trees before Prince Albert popularized the Christmas tree. Queen Charlotte, George III’s wife, used to bring yew trees in at Christmas. But for most people in Britain, the idea of having a tree inside was completely new. People would bring in a branch of a tree or holly or mistletoe, but there wasn’t that traditional Christmas scene that we know now.”
The British royal family’s German connection continued with Prince Albert, who was born in Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in Germany in 1819. He moved to England to marry Queen Victoria at age 20 and brought with him several traditions, although he eventually adapted to English life and society, becoming an instrumental part of the royal household. One of those traditions was the Christmas tree. In 1840, Albert imported several spruce fir trees from Coburg as part of the holiday celebration.
It wasn’t until 1848, however, that the trees really began to captivate the public. That year, The Illustrated London News printed an engraving of Victoria and Albert along with their children standing around a festive yew tree decorated with hanging ornaments in Windsor Castle. History.com notes that “Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable — not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American society. The Christmas tree had arrived.”
Many of the royals’ subjects followed suit, ensuring that Christmas trees became part of family celebrations of Christmas, particularly by the middle class. Prince Albert also sent decorated trees to schools and local army barracks around Windsor. According to Jones, Victoria and Albert loved the tradition so much that they opted to adorn the tree with wax candles and sweets rather than leave the task to someone else — like Queen Charlotte does on the show.
“Queen Victoria and Prince Albert brought the tree into Windsor Castle on Christmas Eve, and they would decorate it themselves,” Jones told the BBC. “They would light the candles and put gingerbread on the tree, and the children would be brought in.”
In 1941, Queen Victoria wrote about her love of the holiday season. “Christmas, I always look upon as a most dear happy time, also for Albert, who enjoyed it naturally still more in his happy home, which mine, certainly, as a child, was not,” she wrote. “It is a pleasure to have this blessed festival associated with one’s happiest days. The very smell of the Christmas trees of pleasant memories. To think, we have already two children now, and one who already enjoys the sight — it seems like a dream.”
A memorable inclusion in the Royal Collection Trust is a painting of Queen Victoria’s tree in 1850 by James Roberts. The painting was commissioned by the queen for one of the nine “View Albums” the couple compiled during their marriage. According to the RCT, Roberts was paid £22 for three drawings of the Christmas rooms. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary, “My beloved Albert Ist took me to my tree & table, covered by such numberless gifts, really too much, too magnificent.”
The painting Queen Victoria mentions in her diary.
Today, Christmas trees are ubiquitous during the holiday season. They appear both in public spaces and in private homes, and many cities and towns have annual tree-lighting celebrations. That popularity grew in the 1850s immediately after Victoria and Albert shared their love for the tradition. English Heritage notes that “by the 1860s, hundreds of Christmas trees were being sold in Covent Garden.” It wasn’t just in England that people caught on to the decorative tree. The illustration of Victoria and Albert from 1848 made its way to the United States, where the trend also took off — continuing today, even for those who aren’t particularly religious.
So, we can thank Queen Charlotte for inspiring us to celebrate the holidays by decorating a Christmas tree every year — a tradition that began in her native Germany and worked its way through the British upper class and eventually to America. The holidays would certainly not be the same without the fresh smell of pine and the soft glow of lights and ornaments!