Meghan Markle's Christmas Present for the Queen Was "Mauled" by the Monarch's Corgis, Apprently
Oops.
As you may know, members of the Royal Family don't typically splash out on fancy or expensive Christmas gifts—the point being that they can pretty much buy themselves anything they want.
Instead, while celebrating at Sandringham, the royals exchange "gag gifts," with the aim to slightly embarrass one another, but in a cute way.
In order to fit in with the general vibe, the first year Meghan Markle spent Christmas at Sandringham—as Prince Harry's fiancée—the now-Duchess of Sussex bought a singing toy hamster for Her Majesty the Queen, and the late monarch apparently loved it.
She laughed and said, "It can keep my dogs company."
A source explained (via the Mirror), "Meghan bought a little hamster that sings with a little rope for Her Majesty. It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy."
As you probably also know, the Queen always had a number of corgis at any given time since she was a young girl. At the time of her death, she had two young dogs remaining, Muick and Sandy, who now live with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson—though these were probably not the corgis who "mauled" Meghan's toy hamster.
Anyway, just as Meghan got her gifting spot on with the Queen, she also nailed her first gift to Prince William.
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"Meghan's biggest challenge was finding the perfect novelty gifts to amuse her new extended family," Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in Finding Freedom. "At least one of her gifts was a huge hit—a spoon for William that had 'cereal killer' embossed on the shallow bowl end of the utensil."
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.