Prince Louis gave away a treasured toy as he dropped off donations at a baby bank - and it's got special links to the Royal Family.
Trying to get children on board with a pre-Christmas toy clear-out can be tricky, but if they want to make room for some of the top Christmas toys, they must do as they're told, unlike the naughty Elf on the Shelf.
And the royal children have paved the way for getting into the spirit of giving this Christmas, when Prince Louis, five, joined his mum Kate Middleton and his siblings Prince George, 10 and Princess Charlotte, eight, to volunteer at Maidenhead baby bank.
Carrying a box of toys each, the Wales youngsters helped to boost donations by gifting some of their things to the non-profit charity.
During their time there, a volunteer asked Prince George, Charlotte and Louis to pick their favourite Christmas toys to fill gift bags that would be given to struggling families.
But we noticed that poking out of the top of Prince Louis' box was a cuddly toy koala bear that holds a special place in the Royal Family.
Not only is Australia and New Zealand (the home of the native animals) a place his parents Prince William and Kate Middleton have visited on royal tours, but they've also taken Prince George and Princess Charlotte along with them when they were younger.
And while we noted that Prince Louis has yet to go on a royal tour, his cousin Mia Tindall, nine, has previously been spotted clutching a giant cuddly koala bear toy at the Royal Charity Polo Trophy held at Beaufort Polo Club back in 2017. She was even pictured crying into the bear after cousin Savannah appears to snatch a sweet from her as they play at the polo.
And the teddy looks very similar to the one Prince Louis has donated. It's not known whether Mia has reached the milestone where she no longer needs her cuddly comforter and gifted it to the cause or whether Prince Louis has parted with one of his toys.
Either way, the lucky recipient will have a toy to treasure.
The Prince and Princess of Wales got up close to a real koala bear during a trip to Taronga Zoo in 2014 as part of their three-week tour with Prince George.
But during the tour, the Daily Mail reported at the time that Prince George was gifted a variety of toys including a flying helmet, a mini BMZ, a cricketing babygro and bat, a cuddly wombat (after Princess Diana called William a wombat when he was younger) and a full-sized surfboard.
The Duke of Cambridge revealed in a speech that his son’s favourite gift was a life-sized wombat given to him by the Australian Governor-General – which George has taken to ‘chewing lovingly’.
However, the royals must adhere to strict rules when accepting gifts, with members of the Royal Family barred from selling or exchanging their gifts. Each one must be consumed by the royal, displayed in a royal residence or stored for future use – although low-value items can be given to charity or even destroyed.
If you'd like to donate and are wondering where to find your local baby bank we have the answers or if you'd prefer, you can donate to a food bank.
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