Why Princess Diana Hated Spending Christmas with the Royal Family

You don't earn a nickname like "The People's Princess" without ranking high on the relatability scale, and Princess Diana wore her relatability on her sleeve. She also regularly wore it on her face and was frequently photographed doing so.

On multiple occasions throughout her life in the public eye, Diana was snapped sporting a magnificent expression that's probably best described as Resting "Rather Be Anywhere Else" Face.

The princess's trademark honesty also extended to sharing what she didn't like about royal life—and the Windsor family's Christmases in Sandringham were definitely on that list.

Princess Diana's issues with the Royal Family's Christmas celebrations began right away with her first royal Christmas in 1981, according to her biographer Andrew Morton, author of Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words.

Morton shared details about Diana's uncomfortable first Christmas with the Royal Family after marrying Prince Charles. Diana, who was pregnant with Prince William at the time and suffering from morning sickness, reportedly spent a lot of time—and money—picking out thoughtful gifts for her new in-laws, but while Diana purchased the royals gifts like "Floris soap, cashmere sweaters, and luxurious children’s clothes," according to Vanity Fair, she was "mortified on Christmas Eve, when she discovered that the Royal Family only gave each other silly gag gifts."

Although Charles reportedly abated some of the Christmas awkwardness that year when he gave Diana an emerald ring she loved, her opinion of the Royal Family's Christmas traditions didn't really improve much over the years, according to Vanity Fair, which rounded up several other quotes and anecdotes about how much the Princess of Wales hated holidays with the Windsors.

“The Princess just hated going to Sandringham for Christmas,” her hairdresser Richard Dalton shared in The Royals by Kitty Kelley. “She told me it was freezing cold and dinner had to be over by three o’clock: ‘It’s three and time to watch me on TV,’ she’d say, imitating you-know-who. The Royal Family had to watch the Queen’s Christmas message on television. Diana said it was a command performance.”

Morton reported that Diana told him the royal holidays were "highly fraught," and described the get-togethers as tense and formal.

“I know I gave, but I can’t remember being a receiver. Isn’t that awful? I do all the presents, and Charles signs the cards. [It was] terrifying and so disappointing," she told Morton. "No boisterous behavior, lots of tension, silly behavior, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood. I sure was [an outsider].”