Former Palace Employees Reveal ‘Bizarre’ Christmas Presents From King Charles and the Same Gift Queen Elizabeth Gave Her Staffers Every Year
People around the world exchange gifts during the holiday season and many employers give presents to their employees. That’s true for the royals as well.
The family employs over 1,000 people in various households so knowing what to get staffers can be very tricky. For that reason, King Charles‘ aides have gotten some pretty strange gifts in the past, while the late Queen Elizabeth II used to just give everyone the same thing. Here’s what those items were.
Odd gifts King Charles got for his staffers over the years
Grant Harrold was King Charles’ butler from 2004 to 2011. During his time working for the then-Prince of Wales and his wife (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles), Harrold’s duties included that of butler, valet, housekeeper, house manager, and driver.
Harrold spoke to The Mirror about some of the Christmas presents Charles would slip into the pigeon holes at Highgrove when he worked for him.
“We all used to have these pigeon holes where I’d get my post in the mornings and what he used to do at Christmas, he used to leave funny little things,” the former royal employee shared. “One time he left a tin of salmon, and one year I got a salt and pepper grinder wrapped in a ribbon. He had probably been given a hamper and sometimes there would be a lot in them and he would give some of the bits to us. I just thought it was so bizarre because you don’t expect those little things. It shows that they’ve got that fun, practical side to them.”
Harrold added that his former boss did leave more “proper” gifts in his aides’ lockers too saying: “For actual proper gifts would be things like tea cups and saucers or whiskey glasses. One year I got a lovely water jug.”
Queen Elizabeth gave the same present to the over 1,000 people on her staff
Most royal fans know Paul Burrell as Princess Diana’s butler, but he actually began working in the royal household when he was 18 years old and first served as Queen Elizabeth II‘s personal footman. He recalled that the queen used to give presents to the more than 1,000 staffers she employed and everyone got the same gift.
Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie Burrell revealed: “The staff always got presents from the royal family. In later years the queen decided on one particular gift for everyone. One year it was a dish with her initials on it, it was a pillbox another year, a lantern, a tray. She thought of a memento with her initials on it, and every member of staff always got a Christmas pudding.”
As the royal family’s website stated “about 1,500 Christmas puddings paid for by the queen (through the Privy Purse) are distributed to staff throughout the palaces, staff in the Court Post Office, and Palace police. Each pudding is accompanied by a greeting card.”
In the past, staffers received a “luxury” pudding from Harrods or the royal grocer Fortnum & Mason. But times changed and at one point the queen decided to give a Tesco version for under $10.
