With Christmas coming up, the royal family will be spending time together and are expected to go on their annual holiday walkabout where they greet members of the public near the grounds of their Sandringham estate.
Often, while greeting fans who line up to meet them, the royal family will receive gifts. Sometimes they are given flowers, or even wrapped items.
You may not realize that the royal family has an official gift policy! So, are Princess Catherine, Prince William, and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, allowed to keep the gifts they receive?
Keep reading to find out more…
The short answer is, yes. They can. As long as it’s clear that the gift is not given with the intention of currying favor.
Here’s the exact language of the gift policy, when accepting something from a private individual not known to them:
Gifts offered by private individuals living in the UK not personally known to the Member of The Royal Family should be refused where there are concerns about the propriety or motives of the donor or the gift itself.
Gifts in this category may be accepted in the following categories:
– Flowers, foodstuff, and other consumable items (within reasonable quantities);
– Copies of books presented by the author, provided the subject matter is not controversial; and
– Other items of small monetary value, meaning items costing less than £150.
If gifts outside these categories are given, consideration should be given to returning them to the donor if it is believed that the donor or another body or organization might be able to make better use of them than the Member of the Royal Family. If they are not returned to the donor, for example on grounds of cost, the gifts should be treated as official gifts.
Here’s what the royals have given one another for Christmas in past years.
Source: justjared.com