In Andrew Morton’s landmark biography of Diana, he writes her disdain for royal family Christmases began as early as 1981, the year she married Prince Charles

She always found the holidays difficult, but by the late 1980s, the late Princess of Wales had made it abundantly clear to both the royal family and the press.

As was the case for Princess Diana, who absolutely despised spending Christmas with the royal family. According to royal biographer Andrew Morton, who wrote Diana: Her True Story, the late princess developed contempt for the traditional royal holiday celebrations during her first Sandringham Christmas in 1981.