The children also helped decorate a tree and received presents from Santa.

The Queen got into the festive spirit when she was staged a winter wonderland scene complete with Father Christmas, reindeers and a sleigh for children with severe illnesses.

Camilla joined youngsters with life-shortening conditions in Queen Victoria’s former sled after she hosted her traditional Christmas lunch for the group at her London home Clarence House.

Every year the Queen invites the children supported by the organisations Helen & Douglas House and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, and they decorate a tree with the help of her equerry and receive presents from Santa.

After lunch served to the children by the Queen, she said to them: “I say this every year, to me it’s the start of Christmas, I

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