A ROYAL CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

From candlelit six-course dinners to casual countryside strolls – we look at how the royal family will be celebrating the festivities this year

- ANNA POINTER

As is traditional, King Charles and Queen Camilla will host this year's festivities on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, continuing a custom set by the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The royal residence will be a hive of activity this year, with the couple set to be joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, 22, and James, Earl of Wessex, who turns 18 this week. Anne, Princess Royal and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, are also expected to attend, along with Zara and Mike Tindall and their three children, plus Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their families.

"There are only two occasions in the year when the whole family gets together for any length of time - during the summer at Balmoral, and then at Christmas at Sandringham," says royal author Katie Nicholl. "For the King, Christmas Day is also the one day of the year when he doesn't read the government papers in his red box. It's a religious day and the only day he can fully switch off, just as his mother used to."

Last year, some 45 guests attended the three-day Sandringham gathering, believed to be the family's largest ever festive get-together - and as the vast property is said to have around 29 bedrooms and more than 100 rooms, it was more than able to cope with the extra guests.

Invites were extended to Camilla's family, including her son Tom Parker Bowles and his two children, as well as her daughter Laura Lopes and her family. Camilla's sister Annabel Elliot, who is one of her personal aides, was also part of the fun.