Royals at Christmas: December 13th, Christmas Day royal babies

It's been a bumper year for royal babies with a new princess in the UK, a new prince in Sweden and a double pregnancy announcement at the Royal Court of Stockholm promising a new royal boom in 2016. So as Royals at Christmas reaches a sort of mid way point, it's time to take a look at the royal babies who made their debut on December 25th. Here are five royal Christmas Day babies.

The most famous modern Christmas Day royal baby is Princess Alexandra who was born on December 25th 1936. The youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary was the last baby to be born in the presence of the Home Secretary. The birth took place at her parents' home in Belgrave Square, London and the little princess was given the huge name of Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel by her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Kent

She shared the name Christabel with another royal Christmas Day baby, her paternal aunt, Princess Alice. This festive bundle of joy had been born to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch at Montagu House in London on December 25th 1901 and was christened Alice Christabel with her unusual middle name given as a nod to the special nature of her birthday. She married the Duke of Gloucester in 1935 and went on to live to the age of 102.

Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain was born on Christmas Day 1584 in Graz and married Philip III in 1599. She was queen consort of Spain for 12 years and her husband, also her cousin, was devoted to her. In fact, Queen Margaret had a huge influence over her husband and was also known as a patron of the arts. She died in 1611.

She wasn't the first queen consort born on Christmas Day. In 1461, Christina of Saxony made her debut in Torgau - she would go on to be queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Christina was the daughter of  Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria and at the age of 17 she married John who would go down in history as king of three Scandinavian countries. But when things got tough in Sweden he left his queen in charge and headed off with a lover and Queen Christina ended up in a siege before being sent to a convent after her surrender. She died at the age of 59.

Another Christmas Day baby was never really a royal but she was described by Robert Walpole as 'as much the queen of England as anyone was''. When George I arrived to take up his crown in 1714 he left his repudiated wife, Sophia Dorothea, under house arrest and brought with him his mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg, who ended up as Duchess of Kendall and about as influential a royal woman as anyone. She had children with the king and lived a life of luxury well beyond his death in 1727. Not bad for the baby born on Christmas Day 1667.