It’s getting to that time of year when a royal Christmas tradition I loved used to suddenly appear from nowhere. There was something familiar and happy and relaxed about it that seemed to underline that the festive season was about to begin. And I really think it’s time King Charles brought it back.
In fact, reviving this very simple royal moment might do the family the world of good in a year that has seen them hit the headlines for a variety of reasons and not all of them wanted. It was a real feel good moment but it also highlighted how one royal really understood the importance of how they were seen.
The Christmas tradition I really miss might actually have passed many people by but it was simple, understated and just a sign that the holidays were here.
I’m talking about trains. Not the royal train or a steam train or anything grand or majestic, even. I’m talking about the service between London and King’s Lynn.
You see, for several years, Queen Elizabeth II used to arrive in Norfolk for her Christmas stay at Sandringham on one of the ordinary trains that left the capital for King’s Lynn, the nearest station to the royal estate where she loved to gather her family for the festive season.
Every year, around the 20th December, someone would see her stepping off the train, more often than not with a warm coat and her ever familiar headscarf in place, and walk down the platform to the exit where a car, admittedly royal, was waiting for her.
For a few moments every year, Queen Elizabeth II was just like millions of others, heading off somewhere for family celebrations at Christmas. She’d step down on to the platform to continue her journey, at the same time as others were disembarking the train to do exactly the same thing.
She never carried a rucksack with enough clothes for three days and some last minute gifts crammed into it until the zip only just closed and she never had to try and manoeuvre a wheelie suitcase down the large drop from carriage to platform before the automatic doors started to close again but she was part of the same pilgrimage as many others and in the same way.
I always found this moment quite special, really. Queen Elizabeth II, an almost iconic figure who was the only monarch and Head of Sate the majority of the country had ever known, eschewing the luxury car or helicopter travel available to her to make her Christmas journey in the very ordinary way that was the only option for others.
Yes, I know that she had a carriage to herself and there was security everywhere. Yes, I know she wasn’t slamming an Oyster card against the Underground barriers to try and get through with minutes to spare before her train departed then pelting across a concourse yelling at Prince Philip that he always did something to make them late. And yes, I know she most likely had on tap tea and coffee rather than an overpriced meal deal from a station shop or a scalding cuppa from a trolley that seemed to take an age to arrive. And obvs, no queue for the loo in that part of the train. But the basic message remains the same.
And same is the word. Queen Elizabeth II understood the importance of being seen as the same as others. She knew there had to be a mystique about monarchy but she also knew that for that to work, there had to be moments where life appeared as ordinary for her as it did for others.
I dare say she also liked taking the train. She always seemed rather fond of that form of transport and famously chose to make her first appearance on the day she became the longest reigning Monarch in British history on board a train carrying her through the Scottish countryside. That was another moment of history and ordinary meeting in an extraordinary way. There was a Queen with the whole world watching her, standing at the window of a train to smile at those who had come to celebrate with her.
Like the train trips at Christmas, there was a link between royal and everyday and it’s a connection I’d love to see happen again.
The King has chosen to arrive at Sandringham for Christmas in his own way which means no view of a Monarch on the platform, making for the little gate in the stone wall that leads to the car park. It was a moment that brought the Royal Family into the Christmas world of everyone else. Wouldn’t it be great to see that happen again?
