Princess Diana’s ‘really noisy’ birthday tradition that Prince William and Prince Harry now share with their own kids

Princess Diana started a ‘really noisy’ birthday tradition that her friends have revealed they continue to keep alive with Prince William and Prince Harry's own kids.

• One of Princess Diana's friends has shared that the late Princess made it tradition to give 'impossible' and 'really noisy' presents to her friends' children for their birthdays, something they now do for Prince William and Prince Harry's children. 
• The friend also said that she knows Diana would 'have loved' her grandchildren 'so much' and that it's 'heartbreaking' she is not here to know them.
• In other royal news, Kate Middleton praises ‘hypnobirthing’ as she reveals she ‘quite liked labour’.

Prince George's tenth birthday plans may have been kept tightly under wraps, with Prince William and Kate Middleton ensuring his privacy is respected by paparazzi on the special day, but there is at least one thing we're sure he was gifted and he has his late grandmother Princess Diana to thank for it. 

One of George's seven godparents Julia Samuel, who was a dear friend of Princess Diana, has revealed how Diana began a 'really noisy' birthday tradition among her friends' children and shared that she now continues to keep the tradition alive with Prince William and Prince Harry's own children. 

So what did Diana do? Much to the annoyance of the parents on the receiving end of the tradition, Diana would make sure to buy her friends' children 'noisy' toys that 'take a lot of making' on the part of the parent. How cheeky!

Speaking on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, Julia revealed, "I do to George what [Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making. William then has to spend days putting [them] together. And then put all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that."

She shared that while William likely finds little joy in the presents she turns up with for the royal youngsters, both she and the rest of his family find watching him struggle to put them together absolutely hilarious. She said, "That makes me laugh and it makes George laugh."

The godmother then gushed over how 'amazing' Prince George is as a person and shared how she knows Diana would 'have loved him so much.' She shared, "He [George] is amazing. He's funny and feisty and cheeky and God she [Diana] would have loved him so much. That is heartbreaking for all of them.'

Julia has often been vocal about her love for the late Princess and has shared how her title of godmother to her friend's grandson is a great outlet for that love. She told Observer Magazine last year, "I feel lucky I was such a good friend of Princess Diana....and [loving George] it's a lovely way of loving her.'

So we know that George is likely now the proud owner of some loud and obnoxious new toy, but how does it compare to gifts he has received in previous years?

For his first birthday back in 2014, the young Prince is said to have received over 1,000 gifts with Buckingham Palace confirming that 706 of them came from celebrities and well-known figureheads in countries outside of the UK. 

Among those first birthday gifts were three sweet presents from former President Barack Obama; a handmade rocking horse with a presidential seal, a polo mallet with a head made from an oak tree that stood in the White House garden, and a blue alpaca blanket.

For his fourth birthday in 2017, Prince George's uncle Prince Harry gave the royal an electronic SUV toy car - a pretty perfect gift for any four-year-old.