Every year, the Royal Family gathers at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk to celebrate Christmas, and festivities are steeped in both formality and charm with a few royal protocols in place.

Part of the main celebrations is the grand Christmas lunch, which takes place a few days before the gathering at Sandringham and Mike Tindall has revealed what goes on behind Palace doors on the day.

Princess Anne’s son-in-law has revealed that seated at the formal table are only the senior royals and adult members of the family, but the royal children, including Prince Louis, are often hosted separately in an adjacent or nearby room to enjoy their Christmas lunch.

After marrying Zara Tindall in 2011, Mike has spent most Christmases in the presence of the Royal Family, and in 2019, he spoke about the celebrations on his own rugby podcast ‘The Good, The Bad & The Rugby’.

Chatting about the table plans during the Christmas lunch, Mike chatted with his podcast co-stars, James Haskell and Alex Payne.

James and Alex cheekily 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 King Charles hosted the Christmas lunch on December 19 at Buckingham Palace. The Prince and Princess of Wales did not attend, however, as they were already in Norfolk at Amner Hall for the start of the Christmas holidays.

The Buckingham Palace lunch is a private event for senior royals and their wider family who will not be attending Christmas celebrations at the King’s Norfolk home.

Members of the family were pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace on December 19, 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.

Also in attendance was Lord Frederick Windsor, his wife Sophie Winkleman and their daughter Isabella; the Duke of Kent; Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and other wider members of the Firm.

Earlier, the Duke of York pulled out of the Christmas meal as controversy arose due to his links to an alleged Chinese spy. Yang Tengbo, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted, has insisted it was “entirely untrue” to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has “done nothing wrong or unlawful”.

The duke’s office said Andrew “ceased all contact” with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns were first raised about him.

Prince Andrew has also withdrawn from joining senior royals at Sandringham for the festive period.