Christmas is just around the corner and so is the excitement and pressure around gift-giving. While it’s easy to buy things for your loved ones, friends or family, getting gifts for your household help, servants or staff is a tricky bit - especially, if you belong to the Royal Family. Imagine having the time to bond with all the workers and get them personalised gifts for Christmas. Seems a bit out of sorts, right? So what do you do in this case? King Charles’ solution: Give them bizarre and quirky gifts instead!
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Former Royal Butler reveals the bizarre and quirky Christmas gifts from KIng Charles
According to a former employee of King Charles - his former Butler Grant Harrold - he used to give the most bizarre Christmas presents to his staff members. Reportedly, all the staff members had pigeon holes at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home and King Charles used to slip quirky pressies through them as a Christmas tradition.
He explained:
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.
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.
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.
Apart from these quirky gifts, the staff also gets proper gifts in their lockers. He revealed:
For actual proper gifts would be things like tea cups and saucers or whiskey glasses. One year I got a lovely water jug.
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.
Grant also confirmed that the staff also used to get Christmas cards from the Royals every year, reported DailyExpress. He added:
At Christmas, we would always get the famous Christmas card. Before he was married to the now Queen Consort, I remember getting Christmas cards from him, William and Harry and that was always quite special.
Now that Charles is King, he probably arranges gifts for even more staff members.
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Source Used
Daily Express: King Charles gives bizarre Christmas gift to staff, which he slips into their lockers
