Which royals will stay in the servants' quarters for Christmas?

PA

The Queen has invited a record number of royal family members for Christmas at Sandringham this year.

So many, in fact, that some royals at the lower end of the pecking order may have to stay in servants' quarters at the 600-acre private Norfolk estate.

So who will find themselves shifted into the wing normally reserved for the F (Food) Branch of the Royal Household? According to the Daily Mail, it is so far said to be Viscount Linley, Queen Margaret's son, his wife Serena and children the Honourable Charles and Margarita Armstrong-Jones.

His sister, Lady Sarah Chatto, her husband Daniel and children Samuel and Arthur Chatto are also thought to be occupying the rooms usually used by chefs and kitchen porters.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Mike Tindall will be enjoying their first taste of a royal Christmas, and other members attending include Prince Andrew and his daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne and her son Peter Phillips and his family, Prince Edward and his family, Prince Charles and Camilla, and many more.

The German tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve before enjoying a black tie evening dinner will dictate proceedings, before the family attend the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church on the estate.

Everybody will then enjoy a traditional turkey dinner before watching the Queen's speech together, and perhaps playing the odd game like other families across the country.

Meanwhile, despite the recent snow and odds being slashed for a white Christmas, weather forecasters are now predicting one of the warmest on record.

The freezing temperatures that had many of us shivering this weekend are about to give way to a sudden tropical burst of air - which means temperatures will reach as high as 14C in places.

That means that Prince Phillip's traditional Boxing Day shoot won't be a white-out - and there won't be snowmen filling gardens across Britain this Christmas.

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