Christmas at Home with Graham Hill
By Brigitte Hill · From her Christmas reminiscence, originally published 14 December 2024.
Christmas Traditions
I have such very clear and fond memories of what Christmas was like in our house. It was magical, a time when the world stopped. My father was at home and not racing. My mother loved Christmas and decorating our home and would spend weeks getting everything into place.
Christmas Eve arrived and my father would take Samantha, Damon and me off to have the day in London together, so that he could buy our mother’s Christmas present.
After he had chosen her gift, Dad would take us for lunch, often on the Embankment overlooking the Thames. He would always want us to try something exotic and different that he had experienced whilst away. One time, my father was showing us how to eat escargots. Many of them ended up flying across the room, causing hoots of laughter.
As night fell, we piled into the car, a Ford Zodiac. My father opened the sunroof and the three of us squeezed through the small opening so that we could get a proper look at the Christmas lights on Regent Street.
Christmas Day itself was fabulous
My Father was known for his great sense of humour – always looking to have a joke, which we did in spades during the holidays at home.
During the 60s and into the 70s, my father’s life was, in many ways, extraordinary. Yet at home, and especially during the festive season, we were a picture of normal family life.
The Christmas tree my mother had decorated so beautifully stood proudly in our sitting room. She always dressed the dining table perfectly for Christmas lunch, with crackers containing paper hats and the obligatory awful Christmas jokes.
Dad loved to get us going and out of the blue would say “On my way to the forum…” we’d hang on waiting… and that was it! I think the words just tickled him.
Christmas really was a beautiful time – all about family. No matter how late home he was, he would always look in on us while we were sleeping. I remember seeing him doing so a few days after the accident in November 1975, standing in the doorway to my room, looking out for us and over us, his presence, love and focus on all that is good in this world.
What would my father have wanted for Christmas?
If the Graham Hill Cosmetics range had been around in the 60s, I do think my mother would have bought him the Beau Rivage Eau de Toilette as a Christmas gift. After all it was developed by Grasse perfumeries and only the best will do.
She always liked to get him an aftershave at Christmas and this one evokes Mediterranean scents and style – and that wonderful era of racing. It would’ve been the perfect gift for the man dubbed ‘Mr Monaco’, after winning there five times in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.
The perfect Christmas gift for a British gent
My father is often described as the quintessential British gentleman. He was certainly a well-groomed perfectionist, and everything had to be just right. Unless it wasn’t, then we’d have a good laugh about it! Live, love, laugh out loud.
As a family, we are so proud that his name endures and embodies such an elegant range of products, designed to be the best and reflecting characteristics that were very important to my father. He always trimmed his own moustache; I don’t remember him letting anyone else near it. To be the best, you have to be your best is something he believed in very strongly. I absolutely know that he would have loved to use them himself and would be tickled pink that they carry his name.
Wishing you all a really Happy Christmas! Brigitte
Also read: Dancing with Dad: Brigitte Hill’s Christmas Memory of Monaco.