The British Royal Family Has a Very Specific Way of Opening Christmas Gifts
Leave it to the British royal family to have a unique approach to opening Christmas gifts. They don’t simply open presents at their annual holiday get-together in the English countryside. No, it’s a little more sophisticated — and organized — than that. Spoiler: How British royals open Christmas presents involves tables and labels before quickly devolving into a “free-for-all.”
The royal family opens gifts on Christmas Eve
To start is when British royals open Christmas gifts. They don’t follow what many do and wake up on Dec. 25 to excitedly open presents found under the tree. Instead, they open gifts on Christmas Eve, a nod to the royal family’s German ancestry.
“The whole family gathered to open gifts on Christmas Eve, as always, a German tradition that survived the anglicizing of the family surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor,” Prince Harry explained in his January 2023 memoir Spare.
That means on Christmas Eve, when the royal family gathers at King Charles III’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, opening presents is one of the first things they do besides afternoon tea.
Christmas gifts are arranged by person on tables at Sandringham
The act of opening Christmas gifts is, in short, organized chaos for the royal family. According to Phil Dampier, a royal expert, gifts go on tables at Sandringham before everyone opens them.
“All the presents are carefully placed on cloth-covered trestle tables, with a name card marking each family member’s pile of gifts,” he told OK. “Then, just as the monarch has done since Queen Victoria first started the German tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve, the king will give the signal for everyone to dive in.”
Harry recounted a similar experience in his. “We were at Sandringham in a big room with a long table covered with white cloth and white name cards,” the Duke of Sussex wrote.
“By custom,” he explained, “at the start of the night, each of us located our place, [and] stood before our mound of presents.”
And for the chaotic part: “Then suddenly, everyone began opening at the same time. A free-for-all, with scores of family members talking at once and pulling at bows and tearing at wrapping paper.”
What British royals get for Christmas: ‘Serious presents’ for some, ‘joke gifts’ for others
As for what British royals exchange in the way of Christmas gifts, it varies from children to adults. However, the overall vibe is much more informal and relaxed than their typical family get-together.
“The children get serious presents, sometimes even horses or guns,” Dampier said. “But the adults share joke gifts worth very little.”
Meghan Markle is believed to have gifted the late Queen Elizabeth II a squeaking hamster toy in 2017. The Duchess of Sussex is also said to have given her now-brother-in-law, Prince William, a bowl and spoon embossed with the words ‘cereal killer.’
Another year, Harry reportedly gave his late grandmother a shower cap with the phrase, ‘Ain’t life a b****’ emblazoned on it. Long before he married Meghan, Harry reportedly received a “Grow Your Own Girlfriend” kit from Kate Middleton.
