WATCH: Royal Albert Hall Recreates The World's First Ever Commercial Christmas Card

To celebrate the festive season, the Royal Albert Hall has recreated the world's first ever commercial Christmas card - designed by Sir Henry Cole, instrumental in creating the iconic venue - using 14 stars from its glittering past.

And since Christmas is a time of family, of childlike cheeriness and of looking to the future, those famous faces, from Queen Victoria to Bowie to Muhammad Ali, are all played by kids.

The iconic venue's annual Christmas video, meanwhile, is a glimpse into the making of the #HallStars image, revealing just how 14 kids were turned into Einstein, Churchill, Emmeline Pankhurst and the rest (spoiler: it includes them dashing into the Hall and unwrapping presents containing mystery costumes!).

Chris Cotton, Chief Executive of the Royal Albert Hall, said: "We're incredibly proud of the Hall's history, but we're also always looking to the future: the next great act, the next great show and the different ways we can continue to inspire young people through our award-winning Education & Outreach programme.

"The #HallStars card is a fun way of celebrating Christmas and family, looking back at some of the Hall's innumerable highlights - as we prepare for our 150th anniversary in 2021 - and paying affectionate tribute to some of the incredible artists who've left us this year, including David Bowie and Muhammad Ali."

The full list of #HallStars celebrated in the video is: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, David Bowie, Muhammad Ali, Anna Pavlova, Slash, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, a clown - representing the venue's great circus shows - Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Emmeline Pankhurst, Luciano Pavarotti and Jimi Hendrix.

The world's first commercial Christmas card was created by the founding father of the Royal Albert Hall, Sir Henry Cole, in 1843. Only 1,000 cards were printed - prior to being hand-coloured! - and they sold for a shilling each. One of them, sent by Cole to his grandmother, is the most valuable Christmas card in the world, being sold at auction recently for £22,500.

With Prince Albert, Cole went on to mastermind the Great Exhibition of 1851, and after Albert's death he was instrumental in realising the prince's vision of the Royal Albert Hall, which opened in 1871.

Today's announcement has been preceded by a week-long teaser campaign encouraging fans of the Hall to name the famous faces being homaged by this gaggle of cheeky children, with lucky winners receiving family tickets to the venue's Christmas Spectacular.

Watch the video

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