Penny Lancaster thinks it is a "gift" that she and her husband Sir Rod Stewart found love with one another

Penny - who has sons Alastair, 20, and Aiden, 14, with Rod - told OK! magazine: "To think of all that we've gone through, the fact that Rod never imagined he'd be married and have children again, and what a gift it is to have found one another and to have brought this family so close to one another, it brings a lump to my throat."

Penny and Rod are preparing for a busy Christmas with family at home in the UK - as the music legend's daughter Ruby, 38, and son Liam, 31, will be joining them for the festive period - although the model has planned out the big day well in advance.

She said: "We're going ice skating, to the theatre, the races, then there's local pubs and catching up with Rod's sister Mary, who's 97 on Boxing Day.

"Everything's booked because if it's done ahead of time, I don't stress and just let it unfold, like a gift."

However, Penny revealed that Rod's daughter Kimberly, 46, will not be flying in from Los Angeles after giving birth to her second child earlier this year and will instead be staying with her mother Alana Stewart.

She explained: "Kimberly's not coming. She's staying home with her mum. It's a very, very new baby, so she's going to stay at home.

"I was there for three weeks just after bubba was born, so I got lots of cuddles in."

Penny explained that she puts a lot of thought into the Christmas presents she buys for Rod and recalled how he was very impressed with last year's gift.

She said: "Rod's got a great respect for veterans and last Christmas, with Rod turning 80 and it being 80 years since the end of the Second World War, I got two metal black silhouette figures of soldiers with metal poppies and placed them in the garden.

"On Christmas morning, we took the dogs out for a walk in the garden and he saw his gift nestled out in the fields. He always says, 'How do you always find the right thing?!'"