Sandringham in Norfolk surely needs no introduction, as this great 18th century country house is famously a favourite Royal retreat. However less well known is its more permanent resident, who usually manifests over Yuletide, and normally commences its spectral mischief-making on Christmas Eve.
Sheets and blankets are pulled off beds, Christmas cards are rearranged, and ghostly footsteps can be heard in the corridors of the servants quarters. In the library there is an old clock whose hands move by themselves and books have been tossed around by the permanent resident prankster.
However the epicentre of the haunting appears to be a room off the footman’s corridor on the second floor. In this room the sound of heavy breathing has been heard, and when the ghost is active it is said that housemaids will not clean in there alone. The room has been disused for many years, and for good reason. A footman who had been given the room refused to sleep in there again after waking one night and seeing a hideous spectre that he described as “looking like a large paper sack, breathing in and out like a grotesque lung”.
In 2000, apparently the Queen requested that a small service be performed to ease the oppressive atmosphere in the room. However in 2011, a courtier said: “Everyone believes there are ghosts because so many have experienced them, including Prince Charles. There are old parts of the house where nobody wants to go or be alone”. Sandringham is still apparently very haunted, especially at Christmas time…
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