The Queen unveils her Christmas decorations at Buckingham Palace

The guilded halls have been decked - by Diana Moore

The Royal Family may be steeped in tradition but that notwithstanding, they welcome us on a tour of Buckingham Palace, via Twitter and Instagram!

We have already toured the decorations at Windsor Castle and it has certainly been a busy few weeks for The Royal Family, with the anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh celebrating their 70^th wedding anniversary, followed shortly by the announcement of the engagement of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle.

Business as usual returns this week however with the unveiling of the halls of Buckingham Palace fully decked for Christmas.

📽Christmas has arrived at Buckingham Palace! 🎄 Did you know that the Christmas Tree was introduced to Britain in the eighteenth century by Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III? Although it was a yew tree rather than a fir that was used.

The tour of The Palace begins with a pair of immense Christmas Fir trees from the Royal Estate flanking the entrance. In the Marble Hall stands another twinkling Nordmann Fir tree, this one at an enormous 4.5metres tall.

Happy 1st of December! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Buckingham Palace - see the final look next week. 🎄

Along the journey we get a little history lesson on the origin of Christmas trees, get up close to the gilt-bronze balustrade of the grand staircase - almost 200 years old and hung with a lush colourful garland and learn the significance of the decorations used this and for previous years, however we did we spy a disco ball in the mix!

The Royal Family on Twitter

Christmas carols are played at the entrance to The Palace by the Coldstream band and the Royal Family provides a welcome insight into how they spend Christmas, with visits to the Royal Kitchens to learn from the Royal Pastry chefs, complete with the sharing of their recipe for mince pies.