Inside Royal Christmas dinner etiquette that includes bizarre salt and pepper ritual and their cue to stop eating | The Sun

A ROYAL expert has revealed the four strict dinner rules that the Royal Family has to abide by on Christmas day.

Good etiquette includes a bizarre salt and pepper ritual, how to hold glasses and a cue for everyone to stop eating.

While we know a royal Christmas looks a lot different to ours, the unwritten rules at the dinner table are particularly unique.

Maven Miranda Holder, who goes by @themirandaholder on Tik Tok, divulged just how quirky royal etiquette is during Christmas dinner.

The first is that salt and pepper must be sprinkled on the plates rather than on the food.

It’s unknown whether the princes and princesses can top up their salt and pepper once dinner has been served.  

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Secondly, members of the Royal Family – including the King – have to hold their drinking glasses by the stem and never by the bowl.

The third rule is that no pinky fingers should be extended when the royals are drinking.

That means keeping their fingers close together when sipping on a post-dinner coffee – a far cry from the assumption that upper-class people drink their hot beverages with a pinky out. 

The final rule is that when King Charles III stops eating and puts his cutlery down, so should everyone else. 

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These rules were practised by the Royal Family during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and are thought to still be in place for when Charles sits for his first dinner as King this weekend. 

Miranda’s video – which has garnered over 105,000 views since it went up yesterday – sparked an influx of questions from confused royal watchers.

One queried: “So when you use salt and pepper, does it go on the plate and then you the butler’s put the food on the plate? 

“I don’t want to sound oblivious but what if you need more?”

Another asked: “What if you’re still hungry?”

A third joked: “I would sneak an extra bite after Mr. King puts down his fork.”

The King and Queen Consort Camilla have invited large numbers to Sandringham House – a much-loved royal country retreat in Norfolk – for their first Christmas Day without the Queen, who died in September.

Camilla will have her son Tom Parker Bowles, 47, and daughter Laura Lopes, 44, at the table for the first time.

Disgraced Prince Andrew, 62, and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 63, have also been given the nod for the celebrations.

Prince William and Kate, both 40, and their three children, Edward and Sophie and family, Princesses Beatrice, 34, and Eugenie, 32, plus their husbands and kids will likely be there.

And I’m a Celebrity star Mike Tindall, 44, also expected, along with wife Zara, 41, and their three youngsters.

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The King’s other siblings Prince Edward, 58, and Princess Anne, 72, are expected to attend the yuletide celebrations with their partners.

Senior aides have said as many members of the family as possible will walk to church together in a show of unity after a difficult year.

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