Queen Elizabeth's favourite Christmas film was a surprising choice for royalty
Like most of us at Christmas, the late Queen Elizabeth loved to sit down and watch a film with the family over the festive season.
HM Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Speech 2015
Queen Elizabeth used to enjoy sitting down with her grandchildren to watch her favourite film at Christmas, however her choice of entertainment might seem a little unusual to some.
The Royal Family's pick of festive film was not a seasonal classic like Elf, Home Alone or Miracle on 34th Street, but rather Flash Gordon, chosen by Her Late Majesty herself.
The 1980s sci-fi adventure film stars Sam Jones and Brian Blessed, and tells the tale of football player Flash and his friends who travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting against Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
Actor Brian Blessed, who plays Prince Vultan in the film, told Yahoo Movies some time ago: "The Queen, it’s her favourite film, she watches it with her grandchildren every Christmas."
According to him she said: "You know, we watch Flash Gordon all the time, me and the grandchildren. And if you don’t mind, I’ve got the grandchildren here, would you mind saying 'Gordon’s alive'?"
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Another interesting Christmas anecdote from royal circles is that one board game in particular has had to be banned at family gatherings as it can get a little competitive.
It was reported that Monopoly is no longer played at royal Christmases as things can get too intense between rival family members, all aiming to dominate the board.
Perhaps an even less well-known tradition, started by Edward VIII, is that the family are weighed before and after their Christmas dinner to ensure they are "well-fed".
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Royal expert and Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine, Ingrid Seward, explained that The Queen asked each of her guests to "weigh themselves" using a pair of antique scales when they first arrive at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk for the Christmas period.
Sandringham will be busy over the festive period, as members of the Firm and their extended families descend on the estate for a traditional royal celebration.
Despite stirrings of a royal reunion possibly on the cards, it looks like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will spend Christmas in California with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.