What you need to know
From turkey dinners to gatherings around the table, Thanksgiving is a tradition that even some royals are passionate about, despite its American roots.
It’s a popular holiday celebrated on the third Thursday of November each year in the United States, and has royal fans all over the world.
Philadelphia-born Princess Grace of Monaco (known as Grace Kelly before her marriage and who won an Oscar while acting under that name) has “insisted” that she will eat turkey at a palace in Monaco on Thanksgiving.
His son, Prince Albert, previously said, “We were either going to have a Thanksgiving lunch here at the Palace, or we were going to go over there to the American Club on the Riviera or to the Monaco/USA Association. They were going to have a Thanksgiving lunch at the Hôtel de Paris or somewhere else, and we were going to be part of that.”
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Princess Grace, who valued tradition, always served turkey during the holiday season.
“Turkey was not common on European tables. In the 60s and 70s, of course, organizations with ties to the United States were eating it. But in France it was virtually unknown and almost absent,” Prince Albert explained. “But my mom insisted that if there wasn’t a turkey at the palace for Thanksgiving, we’d have it for Christmas.”
The king now celebrates Thanksgiving with his wife, Princess Charlene, and their 10-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, but not every year.
The royal family said that their family’s Thanksgiving celebrations are “intermittent” and that they “don’t celebrate every year because other commitments get in the way and sometimes our travel schedules get in the way.”
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Across the Atlantic, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are celebrating Thanksgiving in California with their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
The California-born Duchess of Sussex posted about making the perfect turkey on her Instagram page in 2016, sharing a shot of herself next to the bird and writing online: “Oh, I roasted a pretty perfect Thanksgiving turkey that time! Question is, can I do it again? Pressure!”
Meghan Markle/Instagram
In 2021, Meghan told Ellen DeGeneres that her family would be spending Thanksgiving at their home in Montecito and that she would be cooking the food.
“I love to cook. When I get home, I’m going to relax and calm down. It’s going to be my second Thanksgiving at home in California, so it’s going to be nice,” she said on DeGeneres’ talk show, referring to her 2020 move to the United States.
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Meghan also revealed that her family vacationed with Gloria Steinem last year.
“I think, like many of us, over the last few years of spending Thanksgiving here, we’ve always thought about making sure there’s space at the table for friends who don’t have family. That’s so important,” Meghan told Marie Claire in 2024, explaining that Steinem “came here for Thanksgiving” one year.
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The Duchess of Sussex has long been friends with the feminist icon, so it sounded as if her home would be the perfect place.
“We always try to do something fun,” Meghan said of how they celebrate. “We eat good food and spend time like any other family. What do we do after that? We play games, we do the same thing, someone brings a guitar, it’s fun.”
