"His blue eyes brightened to a glow. “You ought to take Henri into the main dining room. Von Humboldt insisted they erect a fir tree, after which he had the maître d´ place paper stars and candles all over the thing. A Rhineland custom, he says. It’s quite lovely, and children seem to find it fascinating. However, I doubt such an undertaking will prove popular in England or France.”
Major Henry Musgrave
Gather ’round, dear readers, for the curious tale of Queen Charlotte, (yes, the one on TV) who brought not only decorum to the English court but also the first Christmas tree - though not quite the twinkling fir of modern memory.
No, this was a yew tree, that somber, shadowy cousin of the evergreen clan, better suited to churchyards than parlours. In fact, the yew tree is known for its toxicity. Both the leaves and berries contain taxine, a poison. There's even an Agatha Christie book where this poison takes centre stage (A Pocketful of Rye if you're keen).
Yet, in 1800, Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, saw fit to deck its funereal branches for the merriment of English children. Allow me to regale you with the tale, for it's as full of quirks as a plum pudding is of raisins.
Let's set the stage:
Queen Charlotte hailed from the German Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a land where festive cheer and yew trees went hand in hand. In Germany, the custom of dragging greenery indoors during the bleak midwinter was well-established.
The Germans, with their usual efficiency, had opted for the yew - a tree both compact and available, albeit more 'gothic novel' than 'festive postcard.' Yew branches would be bedecked with ribbons, fruit, and wax candles, because nothing screams holiday cheer like flammable décor dangling over equally flammable carpets and rugs.
When Charlotte married George III in 1761, she brought this peculiar Teutonic tradition with her. It wasn’t until Christmas Eve of 1800, however, that she truly unleashed it upon an unsuspecting England.
The Queen's Tree
That year, the Queen invited the children of Windsor to a festive party, the highlight of which was a yew tree set up in the drawing room of Queen’s Lodge.
Its dark, waxy leaves bore a peculiar charm, though one imagines the children were less impressed by the foliage and more enamoured of the goodies hanging from its branches: gilded nuts, sugared fruits, and toys aplenty. Beneath the tree, a treasure trove of gifts awaited. Oh, to be a child at Windsor that evening - assuming, of course, you didn’t light the tree on fire while reaching for a candied apple.
But alas, poor Queen Charlotte! History has an unkind way of eclipsing the pioneers, and it's usually her grandson-in-law, Prince Albert, who is mistakenly credited with introducing the Christmas tree to England. Albert, another German import, popularised the more photogenic fir tree in the 1840s, sparking a Victorian frenzy for holiday decorating that makes even the most overzealous Pinterest enthusiast seem restrained. Yet Albert’s tree owed much to Charlotte’s original yew, though mercifully, the Victorians swapped out the wax candles for gaslights (a marginally safer choice). To be fair, Victorian England had more gaslighting - and less open flames - than the Regency-era.
What of the yew tree, you ask?
It has slunk back into obscurity, its role in the history of English Christmas trees overshadowed by its livelier relatives. But let us not forget its sombre contribution. Queen Charlotte’s yew reminds us that Christmas, like history, is not always the polished tale we imagine.
Sometimes, it’s a quirky German queen with a penchant for slightly morbid greenery who starts a tradition that will one day illuminate the world. So, raise your wassail to Queen Charlotte, patron saint of the Christmas yew - and may your holiday trees be less deadly than her own.
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