There was a festive feel at Buckingham Palace today as The King and Queen were treated to a rendition of We Wish you a Merry Christmas by the Military Wives Choirs and the Royal Household Choir in the Music Room.

The Military Wives ensemble, which comprised a selection of singers from different groups around the country, also performed November Sunday, a song written in honour of the King’s birthday.

Introducing the song, Hilary Davan Wetton, the Military Wives Choirs conductor and artistic director, told the King: ‘This is the first performance of this arrangement.’ The King replied: ‘Is it? Good Lord’.

Charles and Camilla stood in the centre of the Music Room to hear the performance of the song which was released as a single on November 1, two weeks before the King’s 76th birthday.

Written by John McLaren, composer and lyricist, November Sunday recounts the ‘chilly foggy Sunday night’ of King Charles’s birth on 14 November, 1948.

After the Military Wives performed their single, they were joined by a choir comprising palace staff to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas accompanied by the band of the Household Cavalry.

Before they began, Camilla glanced round the room to see who was going to sing and spotted equerry Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Thompson.

‘Johnny?’ the Queen asked, encouraging him to join the singing. Lyric sheets were passed around the room to encourage everyone to join in.

Charles and Camilla stood in the centre of the Music Room to hear the performance of the song which was released as a single on November 1, two weeks before the King’s 76th birthday 

There was a festive feel at Buckingham Palace today as The King and Queen were treated to a rendition of We Wish you a Merry Christmas by the Military Wives Choirs and the Royal Household Choir in the Music Room

King Charles pictured speaking with members of The Military Wives Choirs at Buckingham Palace

The royal appeared to be in great spirits following the performance in Buckingham Palace on Wednesday

The royal was deeply immersed in conversation as he chatted with members of the choir this afternoon 

Charles smiled as he enjoyed chatting with the musicians following their performance this afternoon

After the Military Wives performed their single, they were joined by a choir comprising palace staff to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas accompanied by the band of the Household Cavalry

After hearing We Wish You A Merry Christmas, the King quipped: ‘Thank you very much. We might have some figgy pudding!’

The Military Wives Choirs, conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton, performed their latest single ‘November Sunday’ 

After hearing We Wish You A Merry Christmas, the King quipped: ‘Thank you very much. We might have some figgy pudding!’

Speaking afterwards Katrina Emerton, from Wimbish whose husband Lee is in the Army, said: ‘I wished the King a happy belated birthday and he laughed and said “Please don’t remind me!”

‘He was genuinely really interested in asking about us and we were taking about his birthday.’

Charles asked wheelchair user Stephanie Quintrell, whose husband serves with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, whether the palace was accessible for her. 

She said: ‘The King said “Did you manage to get in okay with your wheelchair.” I told him it was fine as I came up in the lift.’

Alexandra Kulanthai, from Jakarta, whose late husband Joseph served with the RAF but died in February from stomach cancer, said: ‘The King is just like a father figure. When I said “my late husband” he said “I’m so sorry”. He said that recently he had been speaking to the President of Jakarta.’

The King marked his 76th birthday on November 14. At the beginning of November the choir released their song ‘November Sunday’ to honour the monarch’s birthday and to reflect the close links between the Armed Forces and the Royal Family.

The music and lyrics were written by John McLaren, the song arranged by Sean Hargreaves and Steve Turner, and the single was produced by Sean Hargreaves. 

Charles and Camilla clapped as they were treated to a performance in Buckingham Palace this afternoon 

Charles and Camilla posed for a photo with The Military Wives Choirs in Buckingham Palace this afternoon

Hilary Davan Wetton conducts the choir on the single. There wasn’t time in the King’s diary to hear a performance of the single on the King’s birthday when he was in Deptford to see a Coronation Food project.

At the time, the King wrote a letter to the Military Wives Choirs, in which he said: ‘I am writing to express my warmest possible gratitude for your very kind early birthday present, in the form of your new single, November Sunday.

While those of us of a certain age may feel the need for any such birthday celebrations is in inverse proposition to our advancing years, I am none the less deeply touched by your wonderfully thoughtful tribute.’

Elsewhere Camilla appeared full of Christmas cheer today as she joined a ‘Festive Spread’ lunch at The Amadeus in London.

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Camilla’s Christmas cheer! Queen flambés a giant 22lb figgy pudding at festive lunch

During the event, the royal, 77, who donned a cream shirt and elegant green jacket from Anna Valentine, warned Christmas dinner guests to ‘hold onto their hair’ as she helped flambé a giant 22lb figgy pudding.

Her Majesty admitted she was a ‘bit nervous’ as she poured an entire jug of brandy over the 14-inch desert at a lunch for the Royal Voluntary Service, watching it go up in flames.

She told volunteers, who gathered for the launch of ‘Festive Spread’ – a community lunch aimed at making sure no one spends the Christmas season alone – that she was ‘eternally grateful for everything you do’; she added: ‘As I always say, this country would collapse without you.’

The RVS will host 70 of the events across the country. Today’s, at The Amadeus in West London, was attended by the charity’s ambassadors, Felicity Kendal and Elaine Paige, with the Queen spending half an hour meeting guests and volunteers.

Catherine Johnstone, the CEO, told assembled guests that the Queen would be joining them shortly before she arrived, saying that Her Majesty would rather they did not worry about curtsying or what to call her and concentrate on enjoying themselves.

Laughing, she described her role of lighting the Christmas pudding as a ‘career-limiting moment’.

Lunch was made with the help of students at West London College, who were the first people to meet the Queen as she arrived.