King Charles Is a Prankster Who Enjoys Surprising Staff With "Bizarre" Gifts at Christmas, Insider Claims
He likes to hide funny gifts for people who work for him.
Queen Elizabeth was beloved by the world for a variety of reasons, one of the most surprising being her sense of humor. From her hilarious one-liners and quick witted comments in interviews to making jokes about herself when mistaken as a commoner and even poking fun at dismantled assassination attempts, the late monarch incited laughter on a regular basis.
Well, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. According to reports, the crown isn't the only thing King Charles inherited from his late mother: He also got her sense of humor. And, over the holidays, he loves to demonstrate it via creative gift giving to his staff members.
According to Grant Harrod, a former royal butler for King Charles and Queen Camilla, the King is quite fun and festive over the holiday season. He claims that in addition to giving his staff members "proper" gifts, he also demonstrates his sense of humor by leaving funny gifts for staff members to find.
He explained that over the holidays, the Royal Family likes to exchange cheap and fun gifts with each other as part of a tradition created by Prince Philip. After all, seeing as though they are royals and can buy whatever they want, it makes it fun to exchange gag-like gifts. "With the actual Christmas presents, I've been told they give fun gifts because what do you give a royal who's got everything?" Harrod told The Mirror.
"I also like to think that on Christmas Day the kids will have Father Christmas come and they will get traditional presents under the tree, I think that's probably when you will find that's when the serious presents will be given to each other," he continued. "And I do think they give serious things but unfortunately I don't know what unless we maybe see Catherine wearing some new jewellery or something like that. When I see her in a new necklace or something, I often wonder if it's a Christmas gift but we never really know unless they tell us."
The butler also revealed that the King would leave him"funny little things" at Christmas time in pigeonholes at Highgrove, where he would get the post every morning. There would also be a "proper" present.
"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," he said.
"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 continued. "For actual proper gifts would be things like tea cups and saucers or whiskey glasses. One year I got a lovely water jug."
The Royals also give their staff cards. "At Christmas, we would always get the famous Christmas card," he said. 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."
