Princess Diana's hilarious Christmas tradition kept alive by Prince George – but it's not great news for his dad

He teams up with his godmother – one of Diana's old friends – to give his dad some extra work...

Prince George and Princess Diana split image
(Image credit: Getty Images)

With some help from his godmother, Prince George keeps his grandmother’s legacy alive with a hilarious Christmas tradition – and it involves giving his dad some extra work!

Like any family, the Royal Family have many of their own Christmas traditions. Whether it’s the jokey gifts the adults buy each other or the all-important Christmas rule Prince George and Princess Charlotte once broke, they have their own rules and traditions each year. 

And there’s one tradition that Prince George helps to keep alive, inspired by his late grandmother, Princess Diana.

Julia Samuel was a close friend of Diana after they met at a dinner party in 1987, and following her death a decade later she’s stayed close to her children; she’s even one of George’s godmothers.

Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William smiling at Thorpe Park

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It’s well-known that Diana was something of a prankster, and used to relish buying cheeky presents for Prince William and Prince Harry. And Julia revealed on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast that she continues her old friend’s tradition by buying George the loudest, most tricky-to-put-together presents, just to annoy dad William.

Julia said about William’s eldest son, “He is amazing. He's funny and feisty and cheeky and God, [Diana] would have loved him so much. That is heartbreaking for all of them.”

She then went on to explain the sort of gifts she buys George, saying, “So I do to George what she did to us which is give impossible toys which are really noisy, take a lot of making.

“I come in slightly tipped by the size of the present that William then has to spend days putting together. And then put all the machinery together and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that. That makes me laugh and it makes George laugh.”

Prince William and Prince George

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It wasn’t just noisy toys that Diana used to buy her sons, however. According to Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, she’d spend “hours” looking for jokey stocking fillers, with one notable gift being fake dog poo for Harry.

Having seemingly inherited Diana’s mischievous sense of humour, he reportedly wanted to trick Queen Elizabeth – famously a lover of dogs – with it. 

In other royal news, Princess Diana returned most of Prince William and Harry’s childhood Christmas presents for this frugal reason and mini-me Princess Charlotte is just like this royal relative, a royal commentator claims.

Freelance writer

Adam is an experienced writer who regularly covers the royal family and celebrity news for the likes of Goodto, The List, The Metro, and Entertainment Daily. However, you can also find Adam covering relationships, mental health, pet care, and contributing to titles such as Creative Bloq.