Kate Middleton’s First Christmas Gift To Queen Revisited: Did Duchess Break Protocol?

Kate Middleton broke a royal protocol when she gave Queen Elizabeth II a sentimental gift on her first Christmas with the royals.

The royal family is popular for giving cheap and funny presents on Christmas day. When Middleton joined the members of the Firm for the holidays for the first time, she admitted that she wasn’t sure what to give to the monarch.

“I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas,” Middleton said back in 2011 when she was interviewed for the Queen’s 90th birthday. “And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present.

Since the Duchess of Cambridge wasn’t sure what to give the Queen, she decided to get creative and give Her Majesty a homemade gift. Middleton made her granny’s recipe of chutney. She was worried about how the Queen would take it, but she was delighted to find it on the table the next day.

Middleton’s anxiety over what to give to the Queen for Christmas was understandable. Prince Harry has admitted before that the monarch is someone not easy to buy gifts for. The duke said this on the Queen’s 92nd birthday.

“Tonight we are celebrating The Queen’s birthday but Your Majesty, if you do not mind me saying, you are not someone who is easy to buy gifts for,” Prince Harry said.

Middleton wasn’t the only royal who broke the Queen’s rules on Christmas presents. When Princess Diana joined the royal family for the first time for the said occasion, she didn’t get the memo about giving silly gifts and gave Princess Anne a cashmere sweater. The following year, Princess Diana recovered by giving Sarah Ferguson a leopard-print bath mat.

Meanwhile, Meghan Markle seemed to learn the drill fast. On the Duchess of Sussex’s first Christmas with the royals, she gave the Queen a singing hamster toy. The Queen was reportedly very pleased with it that she was in great hysterics. Unfortunately, one of her corgis destroyed it.

Queen Elizabeth II has strict rules when it comes to Christmas gifts. She always wants it to be a cheap "joke gift." For her, the cheaper the present, the better.

Middleton has learned the rule after spending several Christmases with the royals. One time before Markle came into Prince Harry’s life, she gave her brother-in-law a "Grow a Girlfriend" kit.