The late Queen Elizabeth was known to have a great fondness for the Christmas season, absconding to her beloved Balmoral and making sure to cut aside time for relatable family moments.
Indeed, the late monarch – who reigned for a historic 70 years – made sure that many traditions were upheld over the decades, including their surprisingly old fashioned Christmas dinner and the fact that, in a nod to their Germanic heritage, they actually tear open their presents on Christmas Eve.
But before the big day itself, one tradition the late Queen didn’t believe in was the chaos of Christmas shopping - and while we're still on the hunt for gifts that whisper quiet luxury and scouring Amazon for last minute ideas that will come with next day delivery, we're envious of Her Majesty's method.
Like many are no doubt enduring this week, you can rest assured Her Majesty wasn’t stuck in long queues amid heaving crowds.
Showing off one of the perks of being monarch, Queen Elizabeth would actually have the high street come to her.
Paul Burrell, who became the late Queen's personal footman in 1977 and butler to the late Princess Diana in 1987, gave a unique insight into the late Queen’s truly enviable shopping habits during the festive period.
The former butler told Closer magazine in 2021, “The Queen can’t go to the shops to go Christmas shopping like the rest of us, so she does a couple of different things. Firstly, she has catalogues sent to her, and then the Oxford Street branch of John Lewis sends her a selection of almost everything they stock.”
“There is a little ‘shop’ set up in the drawing room at Windsor Castle and the Queen can pop in and choose gifts at her leisure. Late at night, after dinner, usually around 10pm, she’ll pop into her little Christmas shop and do some shopping.”
Sounds blissful!
As for what exactly the Queen would pick out for lucky recipients? Practicality reigned supreme.
Paul added, “The Queen always chooses practical gifts that can be used – never ornaments or decorative things.”
Prince Harry himself shared what Christmases with the royals was like in his memoir, Spare.
He wrote, “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.”
“We were at Sandringham in a big room with a long table covered with white cloth and white name cards. By custom, at the start of the night, each of us located our place, stood before our mound of presents. 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.”
While the late Queen favoured practical gifts, the royals would often rely on gag gifts.
Various sources over the years have indicated that presents exchanged have included Prince Harry giving the late Queen a shower cap that had “Ain't Life a B****” emblazoned across the front and – before meeting Meghan Markle – Kate Middleton gave Harry a Grow Your Own Girlfriend kit.
