Christmas at the palace is steeped in tradition, and there's one custom that the youngest members of the royal family absolutely love – decorating the tree! The Queen has given viewers an insight into how she spends her Christmas in a new documentary entitled The Queen's Green Planet, which also stars Sir David Attenborough. The 91-year-old monarch revealed that her great-grandchildren help decorate the Christmas tree, but they tend to have the habit of knocking off the decorations.
Speaking to Mr Neil Turner, a senior castle attendant, the Queen commented on her Christmas tree, saying: "It's an interesting fat one isn't it?" Mr Turner replied: "Yes, it's really wide isn't it? One of the bigger ones we've had." "You didn't do the decoration?" asked the Queen, to which Mr Turner said: "I decorated it your Majesty yes, a good couple of hours up and down the ladder."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe Queen has five great-grandchildren
"Yes, that is always the problem, is the children love knocking those off," said the monarch, who has five young great-grandchildren, including Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Mia Tindall. "Well my great-grandchildren do, anyway they enjoy themselves. And the great thing is to make them decorate it and they're a bit more careful." The Queen then thanked Mr Turner for putting the tree up and for lighting the fire. "It always looks jolly," she said.
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Her Majesty was starring in a new ITV documentary alongside Sir David Attenborough, in which the pair explore the Queen's plans to plant a whole network of forests across the Commonwealth. The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy project is being supported by Woodland Trust and Sainsbury's.
© Photo: ITVHer Majesty stars in The Queen's Green Planet with Sir David Attenborough
One scene shows the royal and Sir David walking around the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Jane Treays, who directed the documentary, said: "We did the whole thing without a script. Sir David is just marvellous at charming all the ladies and asking wonderful questions and it was a case of, we just filled the 90 minutes. There were things to talk about. The Queen is extremely observant and she loves a blackbird and she asked about the roses and she's very interested. There was time to stop and enjoy that and to bring that out.
"Sir David was very good at filling in knowledge about trees. I was not quite expecting how relaxed it was and how playful it was. It was a beautiful day and everybody was on great form and it was a bit of magic. It was probably the most magical afternoon of my career."
© Photo: ITVOne scenes shows the pair walking around the grounds of Buckingham Palace
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The Queen and her husband Prince Philip are the proud grandparents to eight grandchildren: Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn. Through Prince William and Kate, the Queen has two great-grandchildren, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and a third royal baby on the way. Zara and Mike Tindall also have a four-year-old daughter Mia Tindall, while Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn have two daughters, Isla, six, and Savannah, seven.
