Former Royal Butler Says There Are ‘No Scrooges’ in the Royal Family and Reveals Gifts From King Charles
A former royal butler opened up about spending Christmas with the royal family and even revealed some of the gifts he received from King Charles. Here’s what the former butler said about how the royals spent the holiday in the past, and the presents he received from the former Prince of Wales.
A former royal butler opened up about spending Christmas with the royal family
Former royal butler Grant Harrold celebrated Christmas with the royal family, including King Charles when he was known as the Prince of Wales, many times during the years he worked for them. He recently described what Prince Harry and Prince William were like at Christmas as adolescents.
“When I joined them they were teenagers, so they weren’t running around in Santa and elf outfits,” Harrold told Slingo. “Christmas was always exciting and I remember being around William, Harry and Kate Middleton. I remember on one of my first Christmases I got invited to a party at St. James Palace. It was a sit down meal and I sat down with Prince William for lunch. It was hysterical and we had such a laugh! There were lots of giggling, jokes and party stuff going on.”
He said he believed the royal family exchanged their real Christmas gifts in private, but he once heard of a “joke” gift Princess Diana received.
“What I do know is that Princess Diana once gave one of the royals a pair of really nice earrings or a necklace, then in return she was given a joke present,” the former butler shared. “What could you possibly give someone from the royal family? You have to give something that’s got a bit more humor to it. I believe that behind closed doors the royals would give each other a nice gift.”
The former butler said there were ‘no scrooges’ in the royal family, and revealed gifts he got from King Charles
Grant Harrold revealed that everyone in the royal family loved Christmas, and they were all very generous. “I’m pleased to say there were no scrooges – not even Prince Philip! They are all Christmas oriented from what I saw,” he said.
He shared some of the gifts he received from King Charles, who was then known as the Prince of Wales. “I used to get gifts from King Charles and he once gave me China cups and beautiful glass tumblers. We always got bits and pieces,” the former butler said. “He used to give all sorts of things, like one year I got a tin of salmon. It was funny little things, but maybe something where he’d thought, ‘Grant may like that.’”
Queen Elizabeth had a long-running tradition of giving staff members holiday gifts
King Charles wasn’t the only royal known for his generosity during Christmas. Before Her Majesty’s death in September, Queen Elizabeth had a long-running tradition of formally presenting each staff member with a Christmas gift.
Every year, the queen gave each staffer a Christmas pudding, a greeting card, and a gift or book voucher loaded with a dollar amount that varied depending on how long the employee had worked for her (per Reader’s Digest).
Queen Elizabeth also gave the presents directly to each staff member. A senior officer called out each employee’s name in order of their rank, starting with the most senior. Her Majesty would then hand her gifts to the staff members personally. It’s a tradition she upheld since ascending to the throne in 1952.
