Trafalgar Square’s Christmas tree has been mocked again with Londoners fuming that half its fir is missing.
The capital’s festive tree was raised in the middle of the central London landmark on Monday (December 2) after its arrival from Norway.
A post on X from the tree’s official account said: “Guess who’s back? Now, before the haters start commenting on my branches, I’ve had 10 days of beauty sleep.
“Who wouldn’t look a bit flat after that kind of travel? But don’t fret; it’ll fluff up and shine just in time for my big moment.”
But the tree divided opinion on social media, with some X-users complaining about its condition. Gillian Flavell wrote on the platform: “Going to take a lot of fluffing to hide all those dead branches. Just saying.”
Fellow X-user, Mark, said: “Hopefully it looks better when up.” A Facebook user said: “It’s here. Well, half of it anyway.”
The tree’s official account shot back that critics haven’t seen it “shining bright”, with its Christmas lights at that time yet to be added.
Other people praised the tree, which is donated to the capital every year by the people of Norway as an expression of thanks for Britain’s support in World War 2.
X-user, Summerflower, said: “What an enormous Christmas tree on Trafalgar Square. Beautiful and majestic, from the deep forests of Norway.”
Lynne Bateson posted: “A big thank you to our friend Norway. And a warm welcome to your gift. Christmas can’t start without you!”
The praise prompted a slew of questionable festive puns from the tree’s X account, with one such reply stating: “I’m ex-tree-mely excited to be here.”
Another read: “And isn’t it just tree-mendous”, while a third response said: “I’m ex-tree-mely excited to be here”.
Trafalgar Square’s Christmas tree is usually a Norwegian spruce more than 20 metres tall and up to 60 years old.
It comes from forests around Oslo where foresters describe the tree as the “Queen of the Forest”. Felled in November, it arrives in the UK by sea before being transported by lorry to London.
The tree’s Christmas lights will be switched on this Thursday.
