The all-important Christmas rule Prince George and Princess Charlotte once broke

Prince George and Princess Charlotte once broke an important Christmas rule – one of many the Royal Family have to follow. 

There are lots of rules for the Royals to remember, not least at Christmas, when the family sticks to many traditions that have stood the test of time over the years. One means that King Charles can confiscate his grandchildren's toys, while Charles himself has broken another rule this year, inviting his step-grandchildren to Sandringham too.

But as any parent knows, children don’t always abide by the rules. And even royal children can fall foul of a rule now and again, as Prince William and Kate Middleton found out a few Christmases ago. 

One tradition the Royal Family stick to is opening their presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day – it’s something they do to honour their German heritage, and from the late Queen to young Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in California, it’s a popular tradition for the family.

However, George and Charlotte have previously waited until Christmas Day itself to open their gifts, revealing on Christmas Day in 2018 that the young pair were awake “very early” to open their presents. She said this to a royal fan who was waiting outside the church in Sandringham later that morning, hoping to see the family. 

But this isn’t the only rule the young family has broken – what about Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s ‘riotous’ Christmas celebrations that broke many historic royal traditions? Indeed, one year, the children swapped out their dad’s side of the family for their mum’s, and were said to have had a “riotous” time with the Middletons. 

This was back in 2016, before Prince Louis was born. George and Charlotte enjoyed a more “informal” Christmas with Kate’s side of the family, before joining the Royals for Boxing Day. 

A family friend told The Sun at the time, “Christmas at the Middletons is always a riotous affair. It’s very informal – Michael puts on fancy dress and everyone has to wear Christmas jumpers. They buy silly presents and it’s a lot of fun with great food and games.”

Meanwhile, the young royals don’t keep all of the Christmas presents they’re given. As they’re given gifts from not only family and friends but also well-wishers and royal fans, some items are donated to charities and organisations who may be able to make good use of them, or given away to other children.

In other royal news, Princess Diana returned most of Prince William and Harry’s childhood Christmas presents for this frugal reason and King Charles is ‘hurt’ because he won’t be seeing these family members at Christmas.