Queen Elizabeth felt it was important to give back to her staff who served her and the Royal Family throughout the year. Every Christmas she would spend £6 each on festive puddings for her staff as a token of her gratitude.
Meanwhile, it has also been said that she would give them a seasonal card too. Her Majesty would shell out around £9,000 on over 1,500 desserts for the employees of the monarchy.
She respected and admired tradition, and continued to honour her predecessors before her. Her grandfather George VI and father George V did this before her, too.
However, the popular British supermarket was not the original choice and is thought to have been selected to cut down costs. Previously they were purchased from Fortnum & Mason – and they are more than double the price of Tesco’s Finest Matured Christmas Pudding.
The Fortnum’s Fruit Cake retails at £17.95, which would have been considerably more expensive. If the Queen did not make the drastic switch she could have ended up splashing out over £26,000.
However, they eye-watering sum does not come out of the Sovereign Grant from the Staee, she pays for it out of her own private money.
A source told The Mail: “About 1,500 Christmas puddings paid for by The Queen (through the Privy Purse) are distributed to staff throughout the Palaces, staff in the Court Post Office and Palace police.”
They continued to say that she would sweetly add to each gift with a personal note: “Each pudding is accompanied by a greeting card from The Queen.”
It may come as a surprise but the Royal Family do venture out and buy presents for one another with the Queen even taking a trip to Harrods one year.
They traditionally exchange their gifts on Christmas Eve at the Sandringham Estate following afternoon tea, which the Queen was renowned for having every day at 4pm – no matter where she was in the world.
This was a nod to their German ancestry and often involved a cheery light-hearted, less formal atmosphere.
They often choose novelty items instead of splurging out on lavish gifts, especially among adults. Princess Kate decided to make the Queen some homemade chutney – from a recipe from her own grandmother – when she first joined the royal family.
Meghan Markle pulled out all the stops for Prince William during her first Christmas back in 2017. She bought a spoon that had the words “cereal killer” emblazoned over it.
But Prince Harry was the biggest comedian and reportedly gave the Queen “a shower cap emblazoned with the phrase, ‘Ain’t life a *****,’ which she loved,” according to the Finding Freedom book.
