12 British Royal Christmas Traditions That Will Surprise You

She's one of the hardest-working 89-year-olds in the world, so perhaps unsurprisingly, the Queen actually starts signing her Christmas cards during her Summer holidays. She will write on a stack of around 800 cards during her annual stay at Balmoral, signing off "Elizabeth R." (for "regina," the Latin word for queen) to politicians and heads of state, "Elizabeth" to friends, and her childhood nickname of "Lilibet" to her cousins.

Her staff receive gift vouchers and Christmas puddings, and she has Christmas trees from the Sandringham Estate sent to local schools and churches.