A palace chef has revealed how the royal family celebrates the New Year

Royal holidays are kept fairly private, and aside from the traditional walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church for the Christmas Day service, the Mountbatten-Windsors keep their festive celebrations behind Palace doors.

From what we do know, it involves some unique royal festive traditions, from entering the dining room in order of title and a family-wide ban on Monopoly, to the annual Christmas weigh-in where guests are weighed before and after their Christmas lunch on antique scales to ensure that they have been fed enough on turkey, shrimp and lobster.

Royal New Years however seem a lot more relatable, with the Mountbatten-Windsors thought to celebrate the festivities quietly. One thing that is a certainty however is a New Year's Day lunch, something that former royal chef Darren McGrady opened up about this week. 

"A simple New Years Day lunch at Sandringham for the British royal family," McGrady captioned his post, even sharing the menu of the royal family's New Year's lunch from 1990.

The dishes served? Christmas turkey, Brussel sprouts, roast potatoes and a salad. And for dessert, a fried plum pudding with brandy butter.

"We’d make the plum pudding for Christmas New year at Sandringham in July just after garden parties and before heading off to balmoral for the summer," McGrady recalled, "so the plum pudding had time to mature".

It is not known whether King Charles and Queen Camilla will follow the same menu - it was from over 30 years ago after all, but it is thought that the couple will enjoy a simple lunch at their Sandringham home after attending church.

This news come as the royal family has taken to social media to celebrate the New Year, with King Charles and Queen Camilla posting a video of a firework display to social media.

"Wishing you a Happy New Year!" read the caption, going on to rake in over 92,000 likes.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have also marked the festivities, sharing a reel video of their 2023 highlights to the song 'As It Was' by Harry Styles.

"2023 ✅ Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our year," read their caption.

Well, this is lovely.