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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Jennifer Newton & Sophie Buchan

King Charles keeps Queen's Christmas tradition alive with huge royal get together

King Charles is set to continue one of the Queen's Christmas traditions by holding a large lunch party for the extended royal family.

In what was said to be her favourite festive tradition, the late monarch would host up to 70 members of her family at Buckingham Palace for a festive party before heading off to Sandringham for the big day.

And today, the King and Queen Camilla have carried on the tradition. However rather than being held at the Palace, it is instead being held at Windsor Castle.

READ MORE: Christmas TV schedule for BBC, STV, Channel 4 and more - highlights

Attending the lunch, as reported by the Mirror, were the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, alongside their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, did not attend. It comes shortly after their six part docuseries where the couple sat down to tell viewers what had been happening behind the scenes and why they had to leave.

Today, the King was spotted arriving at the castle in a smart suit with Camilla pulling into the venue a short while later wearing a blue puffa-style jacket.

Others spotted travelling to the castle were Prince Edward, Sophie Wessex and their 19-year-old daughter, Lady Louise Windsor. Meanwhile, Princess Anne was seen being driven into the castle by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

It is the first event like this to be held since the death of the Queen in September, and the first to be held since 2019 with the last two year's cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mike Tindall, who recently appeared on I'm A Celeb finishing in fourth place, previously spoke out about the event and said that although children are invited, they don't sit with the other royals. Instead, they have their own room, where they enjoy their Christmas meal.

In 2019, the former rugby player spoke about the celebrations on his rugby podcast, and shared a few exciting details with his co-stars James Haskell and Alex Payne asking which of the seven tables he sat.

They asked: "Do you find yourself upgrading every year and getting closer to the main table or are you off out the back?

"Is there a promotion and relegation based on the year's performance? Because if there is I imagine you're pretty much sitting on the right-hand side of Her Majesty."

Mike stayed quiet throughout the jokes, but later added: "I was on Prince Charles's table, it was lovely."

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