The king prepares early for Christmas by selling festive treats to his country in mid-August.

His retreat Highgrove House offers a range of Christmas gift ideas for shoppers looking to get their gifts in the summer.

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The monarch tells buyers: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year and it’s time to spread the festivities to every corner of your home with a selection of our wonderful Christmas items.

Serve Christmas dinner with our beautifully embroidered tea towels and dress the dining table with our exclusive Highgrove champagne flutes and wine glasses.

“And start your Christmas meal perfectly with our luxurious, handmade, plastic-free crackers.”

The most expensive item is a hand-forged fireplace poker and tong set costing £375.

Tea towels cost a tenner, champagne glasses cost £16 and Christmas puddings cost £15.

It follows shortly after The King adopts 31 hens from the shelter and gives them a new life in the royal palace, naming one of them Henrietta.

The royal flock also included the millionth chick to be rehomed by the charity The British Hen Welfare Trust.

Charles, 75, agreed to build a retirement home for the commercial egg-laying hens on the Highgrove estate, Gloss.

One lucky chicken, which arrived in the countryside this week in a handmade carrier bag, marks the millionth chicken rehomed by the charity.