Meghan Markle won't have to follow this royal style rule this Christmas

As you know, Meghan and Harry are spending Christmas abroad this year, opting to take a few weeks off and visit the Duchess' mother in America.

And as such, they will probably not celebrate in the same way that the rest of the royal family will at Sandringham. Normally, the royals stick to a strict schedule and rules, for example opening presents on Christmas Eve (as they are from German descent), and eating the same thing for Christmas dinner every year.

They also adhere to a black tie dress code on Christmas Eve, and dress up for church on Christmas Day.

However with Meghan, Harry and baby Archie spending the holidays with Doria Ragland in California, it's likely to be more of a laid back, intimate affair.

So we can't imagine she will be wearing a ballgown or diamonds (which you're normally not meant to wear before 6pm), or that Harry will be wearing a tuxedo for that matter. The couple might of course dress up, as it's Christmas after all, but probably nothing as fancy as they normally would in Sandringham.

And perhaps they will even open presents on Christmas Day, as is more traditional in America. Either way, it will probably be lovely.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.