So couldn’t Norway have sent us a sprucer tree?
RELATIONS between France and the UK may be in the deep freeze – but what did we do to upset Norway?
That was the reaction on social media after the annual Trafalgar Square Christmas tree turned up a little threadbare.
For the past 74 years, Norway has given its finest 60ft tree to the UK as a thank you for our help during the Second World War.
But this year, the gifted tree was a little spindly in appearance, with one person commenting on Twitter: ‘Have we gone to war with Norway? Where’s the rest of it?’
In response, Dagbladet, Norway’s leading tabloid newspaper, reported that Britons were ‘ridiculing’ the country’s present while Oslo-based tabloid, VG, accused London of ‘bullying’.
Some Norwegians shared the UK view, with one admitting: ‘It looks like it was bought in Ikea and some parts are missing.’
However, others pointed out it was churlish to criticise an act of friendship, with Gunnar Evensen commenting: ‘Try getting a Christmas tree from the French to see how nice that is.’
The tree has its own official Twitter account, run by Westminster Council, which sought to defend the spruce’s honour. The account wrote: ‘For all of you picking on my branches and writing mean comments about me on #twitter I will have the last laugh when Santa brings you nothing but coal.’
Despite the bare branches, hundreds gathered last Thursday to watch its lights get turned on.
The mayor of Oslo is responsible for the annual gift and its felling is screened live on Norway TV.
The current mayor, Marianne Borgen, laughed off criticism as she arrived in the UK to watch the lights get switched on.
She said: ‘People complain all the time. In 2019 I was told it looked like a cucumber.
‘In the end the tree is not really a tree at all – it’s a symbol of solidarity and friendship.
‘It comes from the forest that embraces Oslo on all sides. So while it might arrive with injuries, it remains a gift of love.’
Known as the ‘queen of the forest’, the tree remains in Trafalgar Square until Twelfth Night, when it is taken down for recycling.
The tree is then chipped and composted to make mulch.