Next year is expected to see a royal wedding after a Christmas gatecrasher followed in Meghan Markle’s footsteps at Sandringham this week. Most of the royal family gathered at the Norfolk estate for the festive season after a difficult year for ‘The Firm’.
Among them was Princess Margaret’s grandson Samuel Chatto and his girlfriend artist Eleanor Ekserdjian. She was allowed to attend despite a royal rule that partners should be married into the family before being invited for Christmas.
Kate Middleton was forced to wait until 2011 until after she had wed Prince William while, going further back, Sophie Rhys-Jones was also left off the guestlist until she tied the knot with Prince Edward. However, the late Queen Elizabeth scrapped the rule to allow Meghan Markle to attend in 2017, five months before she wed Prince Harry.
According to royal experts, the Queen was desperate to get Meghan into the fold despite the Duchess of Sussex’s later complaints that she was treated poorly. And the presence of Meghan seems to have have broken that royal tradition with Ms Ekserdjian, 28, spotted heading to church with Mr Chatto, also 28, on Wednesday, reports the Daily Mail.
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A source said: “This is a clear sign there will be a royal wedding in the new year.” University of Edinburgh graduate Mr Chatto, who is 29th in line for the throne, has been dating his fellow Edinburgh alumni since at least 2021.
Samuel Chatto (second left) and Eleanor Ekserdjian (left) attending the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Mr Chatto’s mother Lady Sarah Chatto is a cousin of King Charles. London-based Ms Ekserdjian graduated from Edinburgh in 2019 with an MA in Fine Art and has been described as a “multidisciplinary artist, creating installations which combine drawing, film and performance”.
The most recent royal wedding of note was when Princess Beatrice tied the knot with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020.
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