The Royal Family follow a number of traditions at Christmas time – such as attending a morning church service and exchanging gifts the evening before, on Christmas Eve. According to reports, the Windsors also have a long-standing tradition of giving novelty gifts. Solving the issue of what to buy family members who have a wealth of belongings, each of the royals are thought to give one another joke presents. So, what did Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge give the reigning monarch on her first Christmas as a royal back in 2011?
Buying presents for the family of your loved one can be hard, and it could be even trickier when your grandmother-in-law is the Queen.
And, in the past, Kate Middleton has shed some light on how she was initially unsure about what to give the reigning monarch.
Speaking in a documentary interview in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday, she recalled the 2011 event.
“I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas,” she said. “And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present.
“I was thinking, ‘Gosh, what should I give her?’”
Puzzled at what to treat the Queen too, Kate explained she instead decided to get creative and give a homemade gift.
“I thought, ‘I’ll make her something,’ which could have gone horribly wrong.
“But I decided to make my granny’s recipe of chutney. I was slightly worried about it, but I noticed the next day that it was on the table.”
There’s no denying the thought that went into this royal present – and the Queen was clearly delighted.
However, if reports about the joke present tradition are correct, Kate could may well have broken the royals’ rule with her sentimental offering.
However, the Duchess reportedly gave her brother-in-law Prince Harry, 34, a rather naughty gift one of the years he was single.
At the time, she is said to have jokingly gifted the royal a Grow Your Own Girlfriend.
Last year, Meghan Markle spent her first Christmas with the Royal Family, despite having not yet married her then-fiancée Prince Harry.
According to the Daily Star Online, the Duchess of Sussex, now 37, gave the Queen a rather bizarre gift.
The publication reported that the former actress treated the royal to a singing toy hamster – causing the monarch great hysterics.
READ MORE: Royal Christmas traditions: The SHOCKING present Prince Harry gave the Queen