The Queen 'burst out laughing' after she received a heartfelt but cheeky gift from the Duchess of Sussex, when she was Prince Harry's girlfriend back in 2017.
- Meghan Markle spent her first Christmas with the royals back in 2017 at Sandringham Estate.
- Whilst there, she gave the Queen a present she reportedly found 'hilarious'.
- In other royal news, Princess Margaret's decadent morning routine is the stuff of high-class dreams.
Back in 2017, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was invited to spend Christmas with the royal family just one month after she and Prince Harry announced their engagement.
Meghan joined the family for the very first time at Sandringham that year over the festive period, famously joining them for their annual walk to the St. Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas morning. This was a royal Christmas tradition that Meghan Markle was allowed to break but Kate Middleton never did, as typically, members of the Royal Family wait until they are married to invite their partners to Christmas day celebrations.
It seems she also joined in with the royal's tradition of giving one another impractical joke gifts on Christmas Eve - the perfect idea for the family who has everything!
In the spirit of things, Meghan reportedly gifted the Queen with a singing hamster toy, which apparently made the monarch 'burst out laughing', The Star claims.
Reportedly, she commented, “It can keep my dogs company.” At the time, a royal source also added, “Meghan brought a little hamster that sings with a little rope for Her Majesty. “It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy.”
Like his wife, Prince Harry's inappropriate gift for the Queen raised a few eyebrows when he bought Her Majesty a shower cap with the cheeky phrase, "ain't life a b**ch," written on it. Finding Freedom, the Sussex's unofficial biography by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand also revealed that on another occasion, "he gifted his grandmother a Big Mouth Billy Bass singing toy that was said to sit proudly in Balmoral."
But Meghan, Harry, and the Queen aren't the only ones who have apparently enjoyed a hilarious exchange when gift-giving in recent years. Before Harry met his future wife, Catherine is said to have given him a 'Grow-a-girlfriend' kit as his joke Christmas Eve gift!
Not all of the royals opted for a funny gag gift, and others opted for something more sentimental and handmade when picking a gift for the Queen. Kate Middleton’s ‘frugal’ Christmas gift for the Queen reportedly forged a bond of ‘mutual respect and admiration’ as the Princess opted to make the late Queen chutney for her Christmas gift.
In a documentary about the Queen, Catherine said, "I thought back to what I would give my own grandparents. And I thought, 'I'll make her something.' Which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney."
The gesture clearly went well as Kate said, "I noticed the next day that it was on the table. I think such a simple gesture went such a long way for me and I’ve noticed since she’s done that on lots of occasions."
