King Charles III sent his first sprig of Glastonbury holy thorn

Seven-year-old Eris Collins Diaz cut the Glastonbury holy thorn this year

King Charles III will soon receive a cutting from a Glastonbury holy thorn to grace his Christmas dinner table.

The tradition of taking a cutting from the holy thorn to send to the monarch dates back to the reign of King James I in the early 17th Century.

It will be the first time the new King will receive a sprig, which will be sent to Sandringham in Norfolk.

The eldest child from St John's Infant School cuts the thorn, and this year Eris Collins Diaz did the honours.

Speaking after the ceremony, Rev David MacGeoch, vicar of St John's Church Glastonbury, said: "Buckingham Palace are expecting this (thorn) in two days time.

"They they will post it or deliver it to Sandringham where the King spends Christmas and he pops it - we hope, because his mother used to do this - in the centre of the dining room table on Christmas Day."

The first holy thorn sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, according to legend

Rev MacGeoch added: "It brings a piece of Glastonbury to the dining room table of the whole of the crown family, which is fantastic."

The Glastonbury holy thorn is unusual because, unlike normal hawthorn trees, it flowers twice a year - once in winter and once in spring.

Legend has it that the first such thorn sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the saint who buried Jesus, when he visited Glastonbury and thrust his staff into Wearyall Hill.

There was an outpouring of grief in December 2010 when vandals cut down the tree with a chainsaw.

Two years later, a replacement tree on Wearyall Hill was again cut down, and in 2019 the landowner took the decision to remove all vestige of the thorn from the location.

But it is believed the monks propagated the tree through cuttings, and similar thorns also grow in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey and St John's churchyard.

The King's sprig was taken from the tree at St John's and was followed by a procession through the town.