Princess Diana Once Gave Prince William a Racy Gag Gift for Christmas

The royal family might be known for giving gag gifts, but it would be almost impossible to top the extremely awkward present that Princess Diana gave to her son Prince William one year—even Kate Middleton's "Grow Your Own Girlfriend" kit for Prince Harry fails in comparison. 

In a new interview with Marie Claire, Diana's longtime butler Paul Burrell told the outlet that after she and Prince Charles (now King Charles) separated in 1992, the princess celebrated the holidays with her two sons the weekend before Christmas. "She knew they had to be with their father on Christmas Day, and with their cousins and the Queen," Burrell explained, adding that she and the boys had their own tradition of exchanging stockings. 

"The weekend before Christmas, the three of them would disappear into the sitting room and you could hear the squeals and laughter coming out," Burrell said. One year, those "squeals" were because of a racy gift Diana gave William. "Of course, Diana was very jokey and she would put rude things in there to embarrass them," he continued. "William had a calendar one year with naked ladies on it just to make him blush and it worked."

A calendar covered with naked women ranks up there as one of the most embarrassing gifts you could receive from your mom, however, William apparently took the joke in stride. "Lovely things like that happened," Burrell added of the trio's holiday gift exchange.

While Diana may have pulled off the ultimate holiday prank that year, her first Christmas with the Windsors didn't go quite as smooth. Reportedly unaware of the royal family's silly gift-giving tradition, the late princess broke royal protocol by buying her new family members expensive presents. 

According to Diana's biographer Andrew Morton, author of the book Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words, she was "mortified" by the blunder, revealing that she gave Princess Anne a cashmere sweater, and in return, received a toilet paper holder. 

“It was highly fraught,” Diana told Morton of Christmas at Sandringham. “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. No boisterous behaviour, lots of tension, silly behaviour, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood."

Read the original article on InStyle