Royal Family sent message in the sky at Sandringham for Christmas Day service

A special message was sent high in the sky to be seen by members of the Royal Family attending morning service at Sandringham on Christmas Day.

A small aircraft flew over Dersingham where the sky was clear shortly before 11am, when the service began, and with a vapour trail, created a heart, followed by a smiley face and finally a second heart.

These pictures were taken by a Dersingham resident from his garden, who told the Lynn News: "I heard the sound of the plane and went outside to have a look.

"It was cleverly done, because at first the plane created half of a heart with the trail, then flew away and back to form the second half, which matched perfectly to create the whole heart.

"After that, it went on to do the smiley face which it did by flying in a perfect circle, then going away and back again to place the eyes and smile. After that, it created a further heart.

"The timing and drift of the wind was such that all the vapour images would be passing over Sandringham to coincide with the royals' arrival at church."