How much the Queen spends on Christmas gifts
Think you spend a lot on Christmas presents? Well it’s nothing compared to the Queen.
The head of the monarch is said to buy 620 gifts for staff and family annually, with the final bill totalling close to $58,000 according to a former palace aide.
Speaking to Fabulous Digital, the aide said up to two weeks before Christmas, the Deputy Master of the Household, instructs the staff, from equerries to maids, from accountants to footmen, to go to one of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace.
They said: “Here they line up to receive a wrapped gift from the Queen, and she says a few words to each of them – usually something like ‘Thank you so much for all your help during the year, followed by Happy Christmas’.
“If the staff are not able to be there on the specified days – they may be a ghillie working at Balmoral for example – the Household makes sure they are sent to them, along with a card from HM.
“The presents are usually a book token or a small piece of china from the palace gift shop, and most years she gives them a small Christmas pudding in a box as well.”
According to the Royal Household website, 1500 Christmas puddings are sent out to palace staff, workers in the Court Post Office and palace police. These are paid for through the Privy purse.
The aide added: “An equerry will be standing beside her with a list, from which he will quietly whisper the name of each recipient as they step forward, just as they would at a palace investiture ceremony.”
The aide also revealed that the Queen would have a personal shopping session from Harrods in her home before the holiday period.
They said: “The gifts are all chosen online by two women in HM’s private secretary’s office now, but until fairly recently, the Queen used to be able to go on a shopping spree of her own when chosen stores – principally Harrods and Fortnums – would send vanloads of stuff for her to look at.
“All the items were put on display on tables in two big room at Buckingham Palace.
“It was like her very own royal shopping mall. But it’s not done now, it’s one of those things that she doesn’t really need to expend her energy on as she gets older.”