Meghan Markle's First Christmas As a Member of the Royal Family

Even though Meghan Markle has celebrated two consecutive Christmases with the royal family, this Christmas was the first one she celebrated as an official royal. Queen Elizabeth allowed her to be with the family in 2017 even though she was only engaged to Prince Harry at the time.

Meghan married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Not only is she now an official royal, but she is also pregnant with their first child that is due in the Spring of 2019.

There were numerous reports that Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, had been invited by Queen Elizabeth to join the family at Sandringham. However, that was just a rumor, and the 62-year-old yoga instructor was never invited after all. Therefore, she spent the holiday in California thousands of miles away from her pregnant daughter.

Rumors have also been spreading over the last weeks about a feud between the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex. Fuel was added to the rumor when The Sun revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving away from Kensington Palace next year.

Numerous sources have reported that the royal wives don't get along, however, they both were photographed smiling and talking to each other during their walk to the church on Christmas morning.

The Sun reported that the Queen ordered the couples to act friendly during their short walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church. Prince Charles walked along with his sons and their wives. He agreed that any tension between the two couples should be kept out of the public eye. In Queen Elizabeth's taped annual speech, she spoke about the importance of family and respect.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall was missing from the group because she had a cold. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh didn't attend the church service either. The 97-year old husband of Queen Elizabeth indicated that he wanted some private time.

There has been no shortage of royal rumors. Another rumor that has been spread is that the two brothers are not as close as they once were because of their wives.

According to Vanity Fair, the two couples put on a united front on their walk to the Christmas Day church service in Sandringham. It was their first public appearance together since rumors began to spread about them not getting along.

There was even a rumor that Meghan wasn't allowing Prince Harry to participate in the royal family’s traditional Boxing Day pheasant hunt because of her opposition to blood sports. That rumor was squashed and Prince Harry did participate.

Hopefully, the other rumors will cease and the royals will be on good terms to welcome another member of the family in the spring. Babies do tend to bring out the best in people.

Body language experts analyzed the goings and comings of the royals when they were seen together over the Christmas holiday.

The experts reported that there was some coolness among them even though they tried to conceal it. Some claim the two duchesses displayed a "frosty relationship." Expert Judi James said the women were trying too hard to be nice to each other which came across as a performance with forced smiles and body language like politicians. Some people on social media wondered if the display of friendliness was all for show. Pregnant Meghan once put her hand on her sister-in-law's back as they talked.

James said the brothers who used to share jokes and laugh a lot in the past showed no visible connection between them. She said the brothers barely interacted and never made eye contact with each other. She noted that their wives walked in the middle which put some distance between them. James concluded that she saw rigid smiles on their faces, but she never did see them glance at each other.

Meghan's last two Christmases have been very different from her previous ones. Before last year, Meghan used to volunteer at a soup kitchen on Skid Row to give food to those who needed it in the poor section of Los Angeles. She used to take meals to people in hospices.

When she was in college, she often couldn't go home so would stay there and eat food from Burger King for her Christmas dinner. During her first marriage to Trevor Engelson, they spent the holiday watching sports in bars.

Those days are in Meghan's past, and she is living her life as a royal with specific Christmas traditions.