Queen Camilla had one Christmas Day tradition that she was very pleased to leave behind and it involved the festive lunch.

Her son, Tom Parker Bowles, revealed that, for several years while he was growing up, his family regularly got up on Christmas morning to find their oven didn’t work.

Speaking to the Weekend magazine of the Daily Mail, he said that the family’s Aga used to go out, like clockwork, every Christmas Day. They typically take up to six or seven hours to heat up again before cooking can start once more.

Tom Parker Bowles, who has just published a book on food, said that meant that his mum, otherwise HM The Queen, had to improvise to make sure lunch was cooked.

Luckily for Queen Camilla she had another stove. Her son said the regular disaster meant ” my mother and aunt trying to stuff a big turkey into a small, electric Baby Belling oven.”

It appears the Christmas catastrophes didn’t stop their culinary creativity with Tom Parker Bowles saying ”somehow….lunch always appeared, albeit a little late.”

There will be no such issues for The Queen this Christmas. For the third year in a row, she and The King will be hosting their families at Sandringham where a massive festive lunch will be cooked up for them in the royal kitchens.

Cooking and The Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III by Tom Parker Bowles is published by Aster.