Queen 'honoured' with Spanish Christmas tradition.

The Queen has been turned into one of Spain's Christmas "caganers", a ceramic figurine which shows affectionate disrespect for famous personalities.She appears as one of the Catalonian-produced figurines, part of a centuries-old Christmas tradition in northern Spain.

The tiny statuettes show the well-known figures with the trousers down, their bare bottom exposed, in the act of defecating.

“The caganer is a well loved and respected figure in the typical Catalan Nativity scene. It is not making fun but quite the opposite; it is a tribute to the person and the office or activity they represent.”

The original caganer, which literally translated from Catalan means "the fertilizer", was a man wearing a red and black hat and peasant costume shown performing his biological functions.

It was believed that his fertile deposits in the soil of the nativity scene would bring a rich harvest.  But over time, the peasant has been replaced with well-known society figures and personalities from the region, Spain and around the world.

The collection includes King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain as well as the Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Princess Letizia. Last year the best-selling figure was that of US President Barack Obama.