You would think you’d be safe in assuming that royals and aristocrats, classy as they are, would gift each other classy presents. Tasteful jewelry, exotic pets, expensive cars, surprise pieces of property from their sprawling portfolios — that kind of thing. And you would might also assume that a luxurious cashmere sweater would certainly fit the bill if you had to come up with a gift for a member of the upper classes one Christmas.
But as numerous royalty-focused outlets have revealed, the British Royal Family doesn’t care for good taste in Christmas presents. In fact, even Queen Elizabeth II was a fan of cheap, tacky, ironic gifts, so much so that the practice of giving them has become a well-established royal tradition in itself. Gifts in recent years have included a shower cap bearing the words “ain’t life a b****,” which was given by Prince Harry to his grandmother, and a grow-your-own-girlfriend kit given by Kate Middleton to her brother-in-law Harry, presumably before his marriage to Meghan Markle.
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Princess Diana wasn’t to know this, but the sweater she had gifted Princess Anne was considered something of a faux pas that first Christmas in 1981. In return, she received a toilet roll holder. However, the following year she joined in by giving Sarah, Dutchess of York a ludicrous leopard print bath mat.
