King Charles allowed an unmarried partner of a member of the Royal Family to attend Christmas at Sandringham, seven years after the rules were bent for Meghan Markle.
Princess Margaret’s grandson Samuel Chatto was allowed to invite his girlfriend, Eleanor Ekserdjian, to stay at the Norfolk retreat.
King Charles followed the example of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who permitted Meghan to join the festive gathering in 2017.
This was five months before the Duchess of Sussex exchanged vows with Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
King Charles allows unmarried partner at Sandringham following Meghan Markle rule
Getty
Meghan was the first non-married partner of a royal to be allowed to spend Christmas at Sandringham.
Princess Kate, for example, had to wait until after she married Prince William in 2011, and the Duchess of Edinburgh did not stay before she married Prince Edward in 1999.
After the late Queen broke tradition for Meghan in 2017, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was allowed to stay at Sandringham in 2019, just one year before marrying Princess Beatrice.
Chatto and Ekserdjian, both 28, began dating in 2021.
Sam Chatto, Princess Margaret’s grandson, brought his girlfriend to Sandringham this year
Getty
Ekserdjian told The Mail at the time: “We are a couple.”
One excited royal watcher wrote on social media: “This is a clear sign that there will be a royal wedding in the new year.”
Chatto’s mother, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, often submits her artworks for the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition.
Meanwhile, his father is the actor-turned-artist Daniel Chatto.
Sam Chatto (pictured at the very back to the right of Mike Tindall) brought Eleanor Ekserdjian to stay at Sandringham
Getty
The rules were bent for Meghan Markle in 2017 when she attended Christmas at Sandringham as a royal girlfriend
PA
Chatto was left heartbroken when he split up with his first serious girlfriend during the Covid lockdowns.
He was invited to Buckingham Palace earlier this year for the State Banquet in honour of the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Some of Chatto’s porcelain formed part of an exhibition mounted by Hauser & Wirth, the gallery of which his cousin, Princess Eugenie, is associate director.
