Bargain Hunt Christmas special features Yorkshire stately home and details Royal gift to First World War troops

Goldsborough Hall near Knaresborough will feature on the BBC One show on Friday.

-> Christmas at the country house: Yorkshire's largest stately homes unveil their festive displays

Filming took place in October, so the 17th-century Jacobean Library of the hall was dressed up for Christmas early.

In the episode, presenters Charles Hanson and David Harper hunt for festive bargains at Wetherby Racecourse, while Charlie Ross heads to Goldsborough Hall to learn about a special royal Christmas gift - a brass box containing items such as tobacco and chocolate - sent to troops during the First World War.

The gift was from HRH Princess Mary, the Queen’s aunt, to all those serving in the conflict and by the end of the war 2.6 million of them were sent out.

Mark Oglesby, the hall's owner, said: “We were delighted Bargain Hunt chose Goldsborough Hall for their location to discuss Princess Mary’s royal Christmas gift.

“It was the perfect location to film as Princess Mary and her husband Viscount Lascelles, later 6th Earl of Harewood, lived at the Hall after their marriage in 1922 and throughout the 1920s.”

-> Fourteen hidden stately homes in Yorkshire you might not know you can visit“The Princess Mary Gift Fund box was an embossed brass box that originally contained items such as tobacco and chocolate.

"It was intended as a present to those serving at Christmas in 1914 and was paid for by a public fund backed by Princess Mary, the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary."Contents included a packet of tobacco and a packet of cigarettes, a portrait photograph of Princess Mary, and Christmas cards from Princess Mary and King George and Queen Mary.

“We hope that everyone enjoys the show and learns how such a young royal – Mary was only 17 at the time - made such a big difference to the soldiers and sailors during the First World War,” said Mr Oglesby.

A Princess Mary Gift Fund box and its contents is on display at Goldsborough Hall.

-> This Yorkshire stately home has won the Historic Houses Association's Garden of the Year titleThe Christmas episode of Bargain Hunt airs on BBC One at 12.15pm on Friday.

For more information about the hall, visit www.goldsboroughhall.com or call 01423 867321.