Princess Diana Reportedly Followed 2 Rules When It Comes to Prince William and Prince Harry’s Christmas Gifts
Prince William and Prince Harry have been celebrating Christmas since they were children. They also received a lot of gifts. However, their mother, the late Princess Diana, had some rules concerning the presents they could get.
Princess Diana had a non-traditional parenting style
The royal family has always been seeped in traditions, especially when it comes to parenting. However, Diana disagreed with some of the royals’ traditional ways and decided to carve out her own path.
For example, royals had often left their kids in the care of nannies. They were also emotionally distant from their children. Meanwhile, Diana was a hands-on mother who wanted to be emotionally close to her kids. Even though William and Harry did have nannies, Diana had a big presence in their lives as well.
Additionally, Diana made sure to let William and Harry witness life outside their royal bubble. She had them enrolled in schools when they were little, as opposed to being educated at home by a governess like their father when he was a kid. She sometimes took William and Harry along when she did charity work, and they got to meet people from all walks of life.
Princess Diana followed 2 rules when it comes to her children’s Christmas gifts
Diana’s parenting style also involved putting some limits on the kinds of Christmas gifts her children could receive.
According to her former bodyguard Ken Wharfe, William and Harry often got many gifts from people they did not know. However, Diana had a rule that her sons could not keep these presents.
“Diana was very careful to ensure that they weren’t flooded with gifts — gifts did appear from unknown sources, and they were often returned or given to charity because they didn’t need them,” Wharfe told OK. “She was very conscious about what she bought as she knew the hallway at Sandringham would be full of presents.”
Another rule Diana followed was that her sons would not receive lavish gifts from her. OK noted that, according to Wharfe, the princess’ presents were usually “small items,” such as “books, games and videos.”
The royal family often gives joke presents to each other
The royal family are known to be rather formal at times, but they can also be silly when appropriate.
It has been said that royals typically give each other gag gifts for Christmas. Former royal chef Darren McGrady once noted to People, “The crazier and the more quirky is what they love. It’s not about something really amazing or a Cartier watch. Diana got upset once because she bought cashmere sweaters and she thought that would be nice, but they don’t do that. Prince Philip would get a peppermill with a light on it and he would think that was hilarious.”
For example, when Harry was single, Kate Middleton reportedly gave him a “Grow Your Own Girlfriend” kit.
Meghan Markle also joined in on the fun when she once celebrated Christmas with the royals. According to the book Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, people loved it when she gave William a spoon that had the words “cereal killer” on it.
