Doria Ragland Won't Join the Royal Family on Christmas Day, in Spite of Earlier Reports

The royal family has a lot of strict traditions, but the Queen has famously made exceptions for Meghan Markle throughout her engagement and marriage to Prince Harry. Last year, for example, Meghan was invited to Christmas with the royal family even though she and Harry were only engaged. This was a huge break in tradition, since usually significant others have to wait until they're officially married into The Firm to score an invitation to Christmas with the Queen.

But, since the precedence for bending the Christmas rules for Meghan was established, it seemed reasonable when reports circulated earlier this year that her mother, Doria Ragland, had been invited to spend the holidays with the royal family in Sandringham.

"It’s a mark of the Queen’s respect for Meghan and an acknowledgement that she doesn’t have any other relations in this country—unlike Kate who has the support of a very close family," the senior source told Daily Express.

Now, royal correspondent Victoria Murphy has gone on the record, with her name attached and everything, to dispute the claims in a new interview with Yahoo UK‘s The Royal Box.

"My understanding is that she’s not going. I don’t think that’s because they weren’t able to or anything like that, I just think it’s not usual for in-laws to go...I know it was suggested that she was going to go, but that was never confirmed."

This doesn't mean that the royal family doesn't love Doria—by all accounts, they really, really, do—but tradition has won out this time.