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Topics: Kate Middleton, Prince William, Royal Family, Christmas, News
Kya Buller
Topics: Kate Middleton, Prince William, Royal Family, Christmas, News
Festive season is well and truly underway, and while us average Joe's are getting ready to feast on turkey and sip some Bailey's, the royal family is getting ready to celebrate their way.
We're officially less than a month away from the big day, and for the majority of us, it's all about spending time with our loved ones and watching Love Actually as we exchange our gifts.
Not that this will come as a major shock, but the royal family tends to spend it a little bit differently.
Although it's firm tradition to give each other gifts on Christmas Day, it seems those with royal titles do so on an entirely different day.
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Despite this, Princess Kate, wife of the future king Prince William, wants to change their tradition - despite it being thought to be over a century old.
It is believed that ever since Queen Victoria's reign, royals have opted to share their (probably rather lavish) gifts on Christmas Eve, rather than the day itself.
As per Deutsche Post: 'Germans typically exchange gifts on Christmas Eve', explaining that the reasoning behind the decision is the family's German heritage.
The Daily Beast explain that "Queen Elizabeth, a great admirer of Victoria, approved of the unusual gift-giving schedule as she disliked extravagance and overt expressions of consumerism. "She preferred Christmas Day to have a sacred note," and so it persisted.
An insider has since shared that the Prince and Princess of Wales finds it 'weird.'
They said: "Kate has always found the presents on Christmas Eve thing weird. It is definitely going to be got rid of when they are officially running things. I imagine it will continue this year at Sandringham in some shape or form, but everything is going to be much more relaxed and have a middle-class flavour at Anmer Hall.
"You can bet your bottom dollar they will be doing proper presents for each other and the kids there on Christmas Day."
The source, said to be a friend of the royal couple, added that William is 'enthusiastic about embracing Kate‘s much more normal conception of Christmas,' before continuing: “It’s always been a slightly covert, rival Christmas party at their house, but it’s going to be much more obvious this year. If they post pictures, it’ll be an official coup attempt.”
Another source added: "William and Kate have made an incredibly successful brand out of being normal and boring, but the crazy royal customs at Christmas threaten all that. It’s particularly damaging to their reputation because Christmas is the one time that everybody in the whole country actually pays attention to the royals, and it risks getting overshadowed by stories about these strange, elitist, aristocratic habits. It’s not surprising they want to change the narrative as they prepare to take the throne themselves.”