When it comes to Royal Christmas celebrations, even the late Princess Diana wasn’t a fan of the annual festive family gathering to mark the special Yuletide occasion.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton even revealed that the Princess “hated” spending Christmas at Sandringham each year and was particularly “mortified” by one longstanding Royal tradition.
Morton, author of the bestseller Diana: Her True Story, explained that Diana’s introduction to the quirky world of Royal Christmas traditions began during her first Christmas at Sandringham in 1981, five months after her high-profile wedding to then-Prince Charles. By Christmas Day, Diana was already expecting her first child, Prince William, and despite battling severe morning sickness at the time, she still made an effort to buy thoughtful and expensive gifts for her new family members, as reported by Vanity Fair.
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However, Diana was left utterly “mortified” when she discovered that this was not the usual practice for a Royal Christmas – the Royal family preferred to exchange tongue-in-cheek ‘gag’ presents instead!
One memorable example of the tradition occurred when Princess Diana once received a toilet roll holder as a Christmas gift from her sister-in-law, Princess Anne, after gifting her a beautiful cashmere sweater
“It was highly fraught,” Diana confessed to Morton.
“I know I gave, but I can’t remember being a receiver. Isn’t that awful? I do all the presents, and Charles signs the cards. [It was] terrifying and so disappointing. No boisterous behaviour, lots of tension, silly behaviour, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood,” reports the Mirror.
“I sure was [an outsider],” Diana added.
Diana’s long-time hairdresser Richard Dalton also confirmed Diana’s dislike for a Royal Christmas in Kitty Kelly’s book The Royals, stating, “The princess just hated going to Sandringham for Christmas”.
He revealed, “She told me it was freezing cold and dinner had to be over by 3 o’clock. ‘It’s 3 and time to watch me on TV,’ she’d say, imitating you-know-who. The royal family had to watch the Queen’s Christmas message on television. Diana said it was a command performance,” according to PEOPLE.
As Diana’s marriage to Charles became increasingly strained, their last Christmas together at Sandringham was in December 1991 before they formally separated on Dec. 9, 1992.
Adding to her woes, after her separation, Diana had to endure her first Christmas without her sons Prince William and Prince Harry. The young princes adhered to the customary Royal tradition of celebrating at Sandringham with the Queen and other high-ranking royals.