Prince George, Charlotte and Louis get to open their Christmas presents BEFORE their cousins due to special royal privilege

The unlikely reason Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis get to open their Christmas presents BEFORE their cousins and it's all due to a special royal privilege.

• Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are allowed to open their presents on Christmas Eve - a day before their cousins.
• The Cambridge youngsters have royal privilege which sees them traditionally open gifts a day early.
• This royal news comes as Christmas baby joy for Kate Middleton as stylist Natasha Archer welcomes son.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis get special treatment when it comes to opening their Christmas present a day BEFORE their cousins.

The royal youngsters follow a family tradition that is in keeping with the Royal Family's German heritage and it involves opening their presents on Christmas Eve, while millions of families wait until Christmas Day to open theirs.

And former royal chef Darren McGrady said, "The royals are of German descent so they weave in German traditions to their celebrations.

"After afternoon tea, they open gifts on Christmas Eve, as is the German tradition."

But their Middleton cousins will have to wait until 25th December to open theirs as they are not directly in the royal family.

And it's not the only royal privilege the children benefit from - they also get to break this school rule, unlike their classmates.

However, to ensure the Cambridge children aren't left out on Christmas Day itself, it's understood that they also open some presents on Christmas Day too. In 2018 Kate revealed George and Charlotte had been "up early" opening presents.

And it's reported that Prince George got his habit of opening presents even earlier than Christmas Eve from his late grandmother Princess Diana

During a 2016 interview with Kiss FM DJ AJ King, Prince William revealed Prince George always tried to get his gifts early. "He said they were all really excited about it and that George is already opening his presents. He thought it a quite funny. That's kids for you, even the ones that are princes!"

And it looks like it's father like son - as in a letter to a friend from December 1985, when Will was three years old (the same age, coincidentally, that George was when Prince William confessed his own early unwrapping) Diana revealed that she and William were both guilty of opening gifts early.

"I rushed home to open your Christmas present, which I thought was quite good considering the 25th is actually two weeks away!!" Diana wrote in the letter.

"I could not resist opening my present, as a parcel of any shape or form has never been safe with me and I fear that William has also picked up this dreadful habit from his mother, as I find wrapping paper undone in the most extraordinary places!"

One thing that the royals do release early is their annual Christmas cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1R_RfIeRQ8

But Prince Harry and Meghan, since stepping back from the royal family, are said to release their photo card late.