Christmas can be seen as an anticlimax after a grand build-up, do you have any tricks to maintain the excitement?
Laurence: It’s true; the planning, the expense, the indulgence, the effort, all seem to evaporate in one hectic 24-hour period. To be honest I don’t think there’s anything to be done to change that fact. Historically that was what Christmas was all about anyway. The midwinter festival was there for you to use up all your perishable stocks of food and give yourself one hell of a party before the long, dark nights of winter really set in. In fact the tradition of Pancake Day in February marked the point in the year when you were unlikely to have any more fresh eggs until Easter. This of course is why in practical terms Lent is where it is in the year. It uses a spiritual reason to disguise the fact that for most people until the Victorian period there wasn’t any food around anyway. I have always believed that the best bit about Christmas is looking forward to it and after having enjoyed 43 of them I don’t see anything about Christmas that suggests I change my mind.

Do any particular smells remind you of Christmas?
Laurence: It’s funny how Christmas is as much about its particular smells as it is about anything else; the rich, hot buttery aroma of roasting turkey is unbelievably evocative and since for most of us it happens only once a year it is the Christmas smell. But I also love the way Christmas trees can coat the atmosphere in a magical, mythical mist that feels almost Celtic. Norwegian spruces are particularly aromatic and can almost smell as strongly as rosemary. But for both Jackie and I the most Christmassy smell of all is “Noel” by Crabtree and Evelyn. I love its spicy frankincense tang and the fact that it manages to smell quite spiritual and at the same time like a feast about to happen.

Jackie, you’ve been quoted as saying how important you think making an effort with your appearance is. Do you always take care of how you look?
Jackie: Well as you get older, it does take a little more work to be fit for consumption! It’s not just a case of waiting for the face to shrink to fit in the morning but also finding that style that is right for you. It would be very easy to dress down in really casual clothes but I know that sort of clothing doesn’t make the best of me. Christmas is a time we generally remember from year to year (depending on the quantity of gin consumed!) and there are usually photographs, so I do think it’s nice to dress up a bit. We are a very dress-uppy family anyway and we do love a bit of celebration, so Christmas is no exception. 

Where do you buy your favourite party dresses?
Jackie: I love glamour and shape and I think if you have a shapely body, it’s essential to show it off, rather than cover it up. I have always loved the 1940s and 1950s shapes because they make the most of the female form with tailoring. It’s impossible not to feel glam and lovely in a sculpted, ultra-feminine frock. My favourite dress of the moment was made for me by Candy Anthony in London. It’s that classic 1950s shape with a big petticoat underneath in the ultimate lipstick red and it makes me feel fab.

What tips do you have for festive fashion this year?
Jackie: Fashion seems to be nudging a bit closer to glamour at the moment and lots of high street stores are edging into pencil skirts, fitted jackets and lovely silky blouses. On Christmas Day I’ll probably be wearing a pencil skirt and satin blouse with a big wide belt and high platform patent court shoes and of course, an apron.

Would you ever consider going to a hot destination for Christmas?
Laurence: As a family we’ve never been tempted to migrate to sunnier climes. I suppose because Christmas for us is about socialising we couldn’t bear to be separated from our friends. Should we have to escape the Cotswolds I think the only place we’d ever consider would be Barbados or the Caribbean. At least in Barbados the churches will be full, stockings will be hanging on the palm trees and they’ll be plenty of steel bands playing Silent Night to make you feel suitably seasonal.

What do you normally do on Boxing Day?
Laurence: I think it’s really nice to think up ways of giving Boxing Day its own separate celebratory identity. Make it fun and informal; use it as an opportunity to catch up with friends or family that slipped the net before Christmas. And after all there are many who’ll agree that the cold turkey on Boxing Day often tastes better than the hot turkey on Christmas day. We always feel a lot better on Boxing Day after a bit of a sort out. Most years Boxing Day also marks the point for us when we start thinking about going to the house in Cornwall and seeing all our friends in the village. Inevitably it also means the pantomime in the village hall – neither Jackie nor I are great thespians but we love the informal rowdy productions that our village put on for the amusement of the locals. I couldn’t ever see myself in a professional pantomime – far too much hard work. But our am-dram renditions of the pantomime classics are great fun and probably quite amusing, not that we’d know because we’re rarely sober.

Do you make a big deal of New Year’s Eve?
Jackie: We are almost always in Cornwall in Port Isaac for New Year. We usually host a dinner party for friends or go to one. The evening is always finished off with fireworks on the beach, and a thronging village full of visitors who come especially for the atmosphere down there. It’s noisy, it’s messy, it’s usually fairly alcohol fuelled, but it’s tremendous fun. There is usually a village theme for fancy dress, so the 1 January sees a village strewn with feathers, sequins, bits of costumes and revellers. I have only ever made one New Year’s resolution and it’s the same every year – to live a full and contented life. It’s such a bad idea to start a year with thoughts of self-denial. Self-improvement and the strength to initiate it come when the time and your thought processes are right, not on a calendar date. 

Laurence: New Year always flies in with an enormous explosion of fireworks and friendly greetings. Celebrating a new year in a community you love is a fabulous experience. I don’t think any of us would enjoy being isolated strangers among a crowd of people we don’t know, no matter how glamorous the location. There’s something so very reassuring about wishing your friends ‘Happy New Year’ first hand as the final chime of the clock reverberates in the air. The only disadvantage about New Year’s Eve is the mess it makes of New Year’s Day. When the day dawns, you really do know that the festivities have reached their eleventh hour and are almost over. I think it’s a really good idea to make an effort to feel as positive as possible at this point. Personally I don’t believe in resolutions, if there’s something about yourself or your life you don’t like then change it at any time in the year. Instead of resolutions compile a mental list of positive things, things you’d love to see and do, or things you’d love to happen in your life over the coming year and focus on them instead.