The cheeky Christmas 'gag gifts' the royals have given each other over the years

Receiving gifts is part and parcel (excuse the pun) of life as a royal family member.

Any time they make a public appearance, the royals are handed more bouquets, cards and tokens than they can physically hold.

Yet when it comes to giving and receiving presents within the family, things get a little more offbeat.

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Every family has its own unique Christmas traditions, and that applies to the monarchy, too. Case in point: the royal ritual of exchanging "gag gifts."

The royals open their gifts on Christmas Eve rather than December 25 in a nod to their German heritage, with the presents laid out on trestle tables at Sandringham.

Reports suggest the royals have been swapping joke gifts for years, perhaps in recognition of the fact they already have just about everything one could want in life.

This year, the royals face their first Christmas without matriarch Queen Elizabeth, making the holiday a bittersweet one.

However, as royal commentator Victoria Arbiter recently noted, they will keep her memory alive by continuing the many festive traditions they came to know and love during her reign – and that almost certainly includes joke gifts.

Adjusting to your in-laws' unique Christmas customs can be interesting at the best of times, so spare a thought for the late Princess Diana, who took a while to adjust.

"During her first newlywed Christmas at Sandringham in 1981, Diana fell foul of the 'cheap and cheerful' family motto and gave everyone pricey cashmere jumpers," Arbiter writes.

"Beautiful as her gifts will have been, Diana was left rather red-faced having not been made aware of the family's jokey tradition."

According to reports, she quickly learned her lesson, later presenting sister-in-law Sarah Ferguson with a leopard-print bath mat.

Fortunately, it seems the Duchess of Sussex fared better than her late mother-in-law, getting right into the swing of the gag gift ritual.

According to the Daily Star, Meghan gave the Queen a singing toy hamster during her first Christmas at Sandringham in 2017, with the gift going down a treat.

"It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy. [Her Majesty] laughed and said, 'They can keep my dogs company!'" a source told the publication.

A source told US Weekly the duchess gave another of her in-laws a sequinned cushion that "revealed some sort of joke when brushed up or down."

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It also seems Meghan jumped on board with ribbing brother-in-law Prince William about his thinning hair, reportedly gifting the duke a Tam o' Shanter hat with fake red hair attached.

Prince Harry has made a similar joke through a past Christmas gift, reportedly buying his brother a wig.

The Duke of Sussex certainly wasn't immune from being the butt of the joke, however.

According to biographer Katie Nicholl, Harry received a 'Grow Your Own Girlfriend' kit from sister-in-law Kate in the years before he met Meghan.

Another oft-reported royal gag gift is the white leather toilet seat Princess Anne gave her older brother Prince Charles one year. The future king reportedly liked it so much, it's claimed he would take it away with him on royal visits.

However, the title of 'ultimate gag gift' has to go to Prince Harry, which should come as no surprise.

According to biographer Brian Hoey, Christmas 2013 saw Harry give his grandmother a shower cap bearing the words 'Ain't Life a Bitch'.

For some of us, that would earn a smack around the ears from Grandma, but the late Queen was said to have loved the, uh, colourful gift.

Naturally, none of these reports have been directly corroborated by the royals, so we'll never know just how accurate they are.

We do, however, know that the Duchess of Cambridge gave the Queen a homemade present for her first Christmas with the royals.

"I can remember being at Sandringham ... and I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas gift," Kate admitted in the 2016 documentary Our Queen at 90. 

"I thought back to what would I give my own grandparents, and I thought, 'I'll make her something', which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney."

Any worry over the gift was unfounded, as the duchess saw her chutney sitting on the breakfast table the following morning.

"She is hugely thoughtful," she said of her grandmother-in-law.