King Charles leaves his first Christmas tree under watchful gaze of - King Charles

 

King Charles is getting Christmas ready and he's got someone with a rather familiar name to keep an eye on his first tree of the season. The decorations are already up in one of The King's palaces and there's another royal Charles standing watch over it.

The palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is first out of the blocks with the Christmas sparkle this year. Well, when you have so many homes to decorate, starting early is a must. And the Throne Room at Holyrood is leading the royal way this year. There are not one but two trees twinkling inside its wood panelled walls already and that's just the start of the festive decs in Charles III's Edinburgh residence. And standing over one of them is a majestic portrait of King Charles II, who was first crowned King of Scotland when England was still under the control of the Protector, Oliver Cromwell, and had no monarchy. His triumphant portrait here shows him once he had been crowned king in both countries. It's an impressive picture and the tree next to it matches it for impressiveness.

Another huge tree stands inside the palace. This one is decked in white and gold while the Throne Room trees go for traditional red, green and white. But there's no competition when it comes to looking pretty. All the trees are hitting home in the run up to Christmas. However, they have competition.

When you're royal, you have a lot of rooms and your visitors expect regal sparkle in all of them. So the Dining Room at Holyroodhouse has also been decked out for the season and it's the total scene stealer of the palace. Beds of dried flowers have been laid across the tables and over them tower arches of fresh foliage, covered in twirls of sparkling lights. And no need to call in Charles II to look over these ones. Charles III has a far more familiar face to reflect on in this room. Looking over this festive display is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II who did so much to cement the modern royal traditions we know, such as the TV Christmas broadcast. It's no wonder the decorations in this room are so spectacular - when the longest reigning Monarch in history is already part of the picture, nothing else but majestic would do.