The royal family have a very quirky tradition when it comes to Christmas presents – understandable when they already have everything – but Harry loved Meghan’s gift

It’s a question many have asked over the years, what do the super rich buy each other for Christmas when money is no object. They could treat each other to a fancy new car, the sparkliest of jewels or a piece of priceless art.

But when it comes to the royal family, we know they favour funny, thoughtful gifts rather than pricey presents. And it turns out that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kept with this tradition after quitting their royal roles and moving to the US. In his book Spare, Harry recalls a thoughtful gift his wife gave him back in 2020 – their first festive season after quitting their senior roles.

He explains that Meghan spotted a Christmas tree ornament with a picture of the Queen on it in a local shop and “thought he would like it”. He did, saying he “roared” when he opened it, putting it straight on the tree at Archie’s eye-level. However, the sweet present didn’t last long as Archie – like any toddler – found the tree fascinating and pulled the decoration off. It smashed to pieces.

Harry writes: “I grabbed a dustpan and swept up the pieces, all the while thinking: This is weird.” Meghan and Harry marked Christmas 2020 with a stunning festive picture. It showed them with little Archie in their garden, standing outside a Wendy house. The couple’s two dogs are also in the shot, along with a small tree decorated with a huge red bowl.

It was the second festive period the couple spent away from the royal family in as many years, and came just before the conclusion of a 12-month review into their new, non-royal set up. Harry shared another detail of their low-key celebrations during his interview with James Cordon. He revealed the Queen bought Archie a waffle maker, which left the comedian speechless.

Speaking about the Queen’s gift, he said: “My grandmother asked us what Archie wanted for Christmas, and Meg said a waffle maker. “So she sent us a waffle maker for Archie, so breakfast now Meg makes up a beautiful organic mix, in the waffle maker, flip it, out it comes. He loves it. And now I have waffles for breakfast, bit of yoghurt, bit of jam on top. I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do. Berries, bit of honey.”

But James then interrupts, saying: “Sorry you’re glossing over the fact that I cannot for the life of me imagine the Queen ordering a waffle maker to be sent to Santa Barbara. I can’t get my head around it.” Harry replies: “I don’t even know how to comment on that. Archie wakes up in the morning and literally just goes ‘waffle?’.