After the Wedding Presents King Charles Received When He Married Princess Diana Were Destroyed, He Made a Strict Rule for When He Married Camilla
Then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married in what was dubbed the “wedding of the century” back in 1981.
The event had the whole world watching and mirrored something out of a storybook as a beautiful bride married her prince. Around 3,500 guests made up the congregation at St. Paul’s Cathedral where the ceremony took place. Charles and Diana chose to say their vows at St. Paul’s over Westminster Abbey (the traditional site of royal weddings) because St. Paul’s offered more seating and permitted a longer procession through the streets of London when their nuptials concluded.
Following their grand royal wedding, members of the public sent the pair numerous gifts. But you may be surprised to learn what happened to the gifts that influenced Charles’ decision 24 years later when he married his second wife.
Ban Charles put in place for second wedding after he and Diana received over 6,000 gifts
Some of the items they received seemed bizarre to Charles, including a pair of pink and blue toothbrushes.
Charles and Diana’s butler at the time, Paul Burrell, said that the presents, which totaled more than 6,000, were discarded. It was even reported that the bride and groom had to burn and destroy several items themselves due sheer number of things being sent to the Palace that proved difficult to keep up with.
Given that experience after his first wedding and how particular he is with gifts to begin with, Charles decided to ban wedding gifts of any kind when he married Queen Camilla (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles) in 2005. According to Express, the invitation for their wedding stated that no gifts should be bought as it read: “There will be no wedding list.”
The future king also prohibited the use of mobile devices from everyone in attendance that day he wed his second wife.
What the royals normally do with all the gifts they receive on special occasions
The royals don’t receive gifts from the public only for weddings. Just about every occasion such as a birthday, anniversary, or announcement of a new baby, sees an uptick in items sent to the Palace for them.
For instance, when Prince George was born he was sent more than 700 presents. And when his father, Prince William, was born, a whopping 4,200 were sent.
So, as with everything else with the royals, the family put guidelines and protocols in place regarding the gifts they are given. The policy states that anything gifted from a private citizen should be refused if “there are concerns about the propriety or motives of the donor or the gift itself.” Otherwise, every gift from someone not known to the royal family is first looked over and inspected thoroughly for safety reasons. A select few may actually be accepted and used under the condition that the item isn’t worth more than $200.
Some other items may be donated to charity. However, there is always the possibility that, like with the majority of gifts given for Charles and Diana’s wedding, they may be destroyed and discarded.
