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A new royal family documentary shows King Charles making a reference to his viral “sausage fingers” in a throwaway joke.

The rehearsal for his coronation will be aired in new BBC special Charles III: The Coronation Year, which shows Prince William using his hands to close a small clasp holding a lavish robe around his father.

In the footage, William makes his father laugh when he remarks: “On the day, that’s not going to go in,” with Charles, referencing his own hands, replying: “No, you haven’t got sausage fingers like mine.”

When he was the Prince of Wales, Charles would sometimes poke fun at his large digits, which he dubbed “sausage fingers” – they occasionally generate a flurry of internet interest if they are prominent in a photograph.

Charles’s hands again came under the spotlight when royal fans made remarks about them during the coronation.

This wouldn’t be the first time Charles referenced his own hands in such a way. In a letter to a friend after William was born, Charles reportedly wrote: “I can’t tell you how excited and proud I am. He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine.”

During the coronation ceremony, William performed a moving role, pledging allegiance to the King and kissing him on the left cheek.

The BBC documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year will be screened on Boxing Day and shows the King and William rehearsing the poignant allegiance moment, revealing the affection between the pair.

William tickles Charles’s left cheek, making him laugh, then kisses him on the right cheek, but the King questions the move saying: “Wasn’t it that side?,” pointing to his other cheek.

In another moment, William also makes the senior clerics and officials around him laugh when he says to his father “your left cheek is better”, after kissing it and giving his face another affectionate stroke.

When rehearsing the Queen’s crowning, Camilla looks at Charles and says “you’ve got to say yes or no” to laughter from those around, and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby adds: “If you don’t say anything, if you don’t nod or indicate, Sir, I can’t crown Her Majesty.”

The Queen quips, to laughter: “Don’t bother to look, I’m very happy.”

The documentary takes the viewer behind the scenes as everything is readied ahead of the big day, from alterations to the crown jewels, the work of the Royal School of Needlework, and the arrival of the King and Queen’s anointing oil from the Holy Land.

The area in Westminster Abbey where the coronation ceremony was staged was called the “theatre” and the Princess Royal, interviewed for the documentary, said school acting lessons stood herself and Charles in good stead.

She said: “We often remark how grateful we are that our schools did a lot of drama and both of us spent time on stage – it’s really good training.

“Apart from the fact it gives you a bit of confidence, but it teaches you about learning lines and making sure you do the rehearsals and understand what’s involved. So you get it absolutely right.”

Charles III: The Coronation Year will be screened on Boxing Day at 6.50pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

With additional reporting from PA.

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