Former Royal Butler Reveals Princess Diana's Favorite Christmas Gifts, Including Luxe Candles You Can Still Buy Today
Paul Burrell tells 'Marie Claire' what the late princess loved to get for the holidays.
Choosing the perfect Christmas gift is tough enough for us commoners, but when it comes to impressing the Royal Family, it's a different level of holiday stress. Contrary to what you might expect, the royals have a penchant for silly gag gifts (like a singing toy fish) or homemade items—but Princess Diana didn't quite gel with her in-laws when it came to that philosophy.
Speaking to Marie Claire on behalf of Spin Genie, Diana's former royal butler Paul Burrell shared some of her favorite designer gifts and Christmas traditions.
He shares that after her divorce from Prince Charles, the late princess would gather with Prince William and Prince Harry "the weekend before" Christmas, since the boys would go to Sandringham with their father and The Queen for Christmas Eve/Day. "She and I would make stockings for William and Harry and then William would whisper in my ear and ask me what mummy would like for her Christmas stocking," Burrell says.
The former butler adds that he would go shopping for Diana's Christmas gifts "over the course of the year" and "would be stockpiling things while [William and Harry] were away at school." Burrell would then spend time "wrapping them up and putting them inside her Christmas stocking."
Princess Diana, seen on the Sandringham estate on Christmas Day 1990, celebrated Christmas at Kensington Palace after her divorce.
As for Diana's version of Oprah's Favorite Things, the reality TV personality tells Marie Claire that his former boss "loved aromatherapy for the bath, and I'd always buy her favorite perfume which Harry and William would pay for—Hermès 24 Faubourg. That was always in her stocking." The classic '90s scent features orange blossom, jasmine and vanilla notes and is still available for scent lovers to purchase today.
Another fragrant gift the late princess enjoyed? "She loved the Diptyque candles," Burrell shares. Although he didn't elaborate on her preferred scent, somehow I could see Diana being a Baies girlie.
As for what else Burrell put in his boss's stocking, he said Princess Diana enjoyed "some chocolate mints, she would occasionally have one at Christmas time."
When it came to presents for her family, the former royal staffer says she liked to get a reaction from her boys. "Of course, Diana was very jokey and she would put rude things in there too to embarrass them," Burrell shares. "William had a calendar one year with naked ladies on it just to make him blush and it worked."
Looking to shop like a royal over the holiday break? Look no further than some Diana-inspired items, below.
