Each year, the Royal Family gathers at Sandringham in Norfolk to celebrate Christmas, as formality and charm fill the festivities alongside certain royal protocols.
The main celebrations is the grand Christmas lunch, which takes place a few days before the Sandringham gathering, and Mike Tindall has shared what goes on behind Palace doors on the day.
Princess Anne 's son-in-law has revealed that only senior royals and adult family members sit at the formal table, whilst the royal children - including Prince Louis - are usually seated in a separate room nearby to enjoy Christmas lunch, reports the Express.
Mike has been married to Zara Tindall since 2011, and since then he has spent most Christmases in the presence of the royal family and in 2019 he opened up about the festivities on his rugby podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.
He chatted to his co-stars, James Haskell and Alex Payne about the table plans during the Christmas lunch. As James and Alex asked: "Do you find yourself upgrading every year and getting closer to the main table or are you off out the back?"
They added: "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 explained: "This is the family lunch, there were seven tables so there must have been about 70 of us there.
"The kiddies have their own little one in a different room."
This year the King hosted the Christmas lunch on December 19 at Buckingham Palace.
The lunch at the Palace is a completely private event just for senior royals, and their wider family who wont be in attendance at The King's Norfolk home for Christmas Day.
Members of the family were pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace on the day including His and Her Majesty, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and Prince Andrew’s daughters Princess Beatrice with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Eugenie with her husband Jack Brooksbank.
There was also Lord Frederick Windsor, his wife Sophie Winkleman, and their daughter Isabella; the Duke of Kent; Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and other extended members.
However, Prince William and Kate Middleton did not attend, as they were already in Amner Hall in Norfolk for the start of the Christmas holidays.
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Earlier, the Duke of York withdrew from the Christmas meal due to the controversy over his alleged links to a Chinese spy. Yang Tengbo, whose name was revealed after an anonymity order was lifted, denied the claims, stating they were "entirely untrue" and that he had "done nothing wrong or unlawful."
The duke's office said he had "ceased all contact" with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns about him were first raised.
Prince Andrew will also not be joining the senior royals at Sandringham this year for Christmas Day.
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