King Charles' thrifty gift hack that shows he's just like us at Christmas

King Charles' thrifty gift hack has been revealed by Charles and Camilla's former butler who worked with them for nearly a decade.

• The Royal Family is set to mark their first festive period without the matriarch of the family, Her Majesty the Queen.
• This means there has been som intrigue about how the royals are set to celebrate Christmas this year with so much upheaval.
• In other royal news, Princess Margaret had a fabulously lavish way of paying for Harrods trips and beauty salon appointments.

Grant Harrold worked for Charles and Camilla for seven years at Highgrove House, the King and Queen's country estate near the Cotswolds. In a new interview, the former member of staff explained that, like most of us, King Charles is guilty of regifting presents. 

Grant told The Mirror (opens in new tab), "We all used to have these pigeon holes where I'd get my post in the mornings and what he used to do at Christmas, he used to leave funny little things." He added,"One time he left a tin of salmon and one year I got a salt and pepper grinder wrapped in a ribbon. He had probably been given a hamper and sometimes there would be a lot in them and he would give some of the bits to us."

Rather than being offended by the obvious re-gift, Grant said that he loved the fun little gifts from the King. "I just thought it was so bizarre because you don't expect those little things. It shows that they've got that fun, practical side to them," he said.

This also highlights King Charles' commitment to sustainability as he would sooner give these gifts away than see them go to waste.

Grant added that the King did also make an effort to give his staff proper gifts. "But for actual proper gifts would be things like tea cups and saucers or whiskey glasses. One year I got a lovely water jug," he said. "What would happen is, for example with the teacups, you would get them maybe two or three years in a row because there would be a whole set to collect."

The former butler explained that reciprocating these gifts was tricky as the Royal Family has access to any gift or present they could ask for. "I always used to write him a card and give him a gift as well. I remember there was no point in trying to give something fancy. It's difficult when the person has everything," he said. "But I knew he loves honey so I used to give him a jar of honey or honey fudge or something that I knew he would quite enjoy."

The insider also revealed that fun presents are the only thing royals deal with these days as they like to spread humor and fun at Christmas. "With the actual Christmas presents, I've been told they give fun gifts because what do you give a royal who's got everything?" said Grant. Although he did add, "But I also believe they also give each other nice gifts because even though they do the fun thing, the younger royals for example like William and Catherine, will give each other nice gifts to each other at Christmas, I have no doubt about that at all."