Prince Harry Once Revealed the "Cold-Blooded" Christmas Gift He Received From a Royal Family Member

He also shared that he felt "nothing for her, except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness."

Princess Margaret wears a turquoise blue outfit and stands on Buckingham Palace balcony with Prince William, and Prince Harry and Princess Diana, who wear matching green and white outfits
(Image credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

The British Royal Family is known for its tradition of giving "joke" Christmas gifts to one another. But according to Prince Harry, one member of the family went a step too far with the present they gave him one year.

According to Hello! magazine, Prince Harry shared in his book, Spare, that Princess Margaret once gave him a ballpoint "pen with a small rubber fish wrapped around it, which he described as a 'cold-blooded' gift." The Duke of Sussex subsequently revealed that his relationship with Margaret wasn't very good, and that he felt "nothing for her, except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness."

Despite not being a fan of Margaret's gift, it's clear that Prince Harry has continued some of the Royal Family's Christmas traditions since he moved to Los Angeles.

Young Prince William and Prince Harry wear suits and walk alongside Prince Charles and Princess Margaret, who wears a lemon skirt suit

He felt "nothing for her, except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness."

(Image credit: Georges De Keerle/Getty Images)

Describing Christmas Eve in Montecito with Meghan Markle, Harry wrote in Spare, "We FaceTimed with several friends, including a few in Britain. We watched Archie running around the tree. And we opened presents. Keeping to the Windsor family tradition." He continued, "The whole family gathered to open gifts on Christmas Eve, as always, a German tradition that survived the anglicizing of the family surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor."

In a recent interview with Marie Claire's Senior Royal Editor, Kristin Contino, former royal butler Paul Burrell—speaking on behalf of Spin Genie—revealed that he once "gave [Princess Diana] a pair of Chanel costume jewelry earrings." He further explained how he "thought that was a good choice for her as she loved those chunky earrings." However, Burrell realized he should never give Diana "earrings with intertwined Cs, which would have been a bad mistake," as it reportedly made her think of Charles and Camilla's relationship.

Designer Jayson Brundson confirmed Princess Diana's dislike of the Chanel logo in a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia. "She came out holding like handfuls of shoes and bags and just dumped them all down on the couch," Brundson said. Referring to a pair of Chanel shoes, Brundson explained, "I said, 'Well these would look great with the Versace,' and she said 'No, I can't wear linked Cs, the double C.' So I asked why, and she said, 'It's Camilla and Charles.'"

Amy Mackelden
Contributing Editor

Amy Mackelden is a contributing editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.