Queen digs deep for Diamond Jubilee project

The Queen planted a young oak, one of dozens to be distributed by the Woodland Trust

The Queen has launched a project to plant six million trees native to Britain, creating new woods across the country to mark her Diamond Jubilee.

Accompanied by her daughter, the Princess Royal, the Queen planted an oak in the new 20-acre Jubilee Wood on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Dressed in a green overcoat and headscarf on a frosty morning, the Queen said: "It is terribly bleak here.

"There is nothing between here and Siberia," she added.

The Queen and Princess Anne watched pupils from nearby primary schools plant their own trees.

Anne, a patron of the project, said: "Trees often form part of royal celebrations.

"The Duke of Edinburgh planted one at Sandringham for the Queen's coronation.

"Those trees will be enjoyed by generations to come. People will grow up with them and they will be engraved on our memories."

The project is run by the Woodland Trust and funded by Sainsbury's supermarket.

Sue Holden, of the Woodland Trust, said the project would provide a fitting legacy for generations to come, cleaner air and vital habitat for wildlife.

The trust will distribute free community tree packs of 105 or 420 native tree species. Every pack will contain an oak sapling from acorns collected on royal estates.

Tree planting began last autumn and will continue until the end of 2012.