Diana used to ‘dread’ royal Christmas when things weren’t going well – she would leave before lunch

CHRISTMAS is the perfect opportunity for the royal family to gather together at Sandringham - but not everyone has been a fan of the celebrations.

Princess Diana would “dread” the royal Christmas, according to Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward.

Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, legendary Sun photographer Arthur Edwards said: “For many years, our Queen Camilla, she would leave after [Christmas] lunch and go and spend time with her own family down in Wiltshire.”

Ingrid added: “Well Diana used to leave after lunch.

“When things were really not going at all well, she was to dread these royal family Christmases.

“And sometimes she escaped even before lunch and just did the church.” 

Arthur added: “Not always but a few times I remember yes, I remember her passing me on the motorway coming back once.”

According to Andrew Morton, the late Princess of Wales wasn't fond of spending the festive period with her royal relatives.

Richard Dalton told Kitty Kelly for her book The Royals: “The princess just hated going to Sandringham for Christmas.”

As reported by , Richard claimed: “She told me it was freezing cold and dinner had to be over by 3 o’clock. 

“‘It’s 3 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.” 

Things then became more and more fraught as Diana’s marriage to Charles became increasingly strained as the years progressed.

Eventually, the couple shared their last Christmas together at Sandringham in December 1991 before formally separating on December 9 1992.

In a further blow, after her separation from Charles, Diana was forced to spend her first Christmas away from her sons Prince William, 42, and Prince Harry, 40.

Instead, the boys, who were just 11 and nine at the time, continued to follow the usual royal tradition of gathering at Sandringham alongside the Queen and other senior royals to mark the occasion.

Present shame

Diana was reportedly also left mortified during her first Christmas at Sandringham in 1981 when it came to the present giving.

Despite suffering from severe morning sickness, Diana still took the time to “to buy her new family members thoughtful and expensive gifts,” reported.

However, despite her careful planning to ensure heartfelt and personal gifts were selected, Diana soon found herself utterly “mortified” after discovering that this was not normal procedure for a royal Christmas.

Instead, contrary to what we might expect, it turns out that the Royal Family, who traditionally give their presents on Christmas Eve, prefer to give each other tongue-in-cheek ‘gag’ presents instead. 

Diana was unbeknown to this and was left blushing by the unusual tradition when she gifted her sister-in-law Princess Anne a beautiful cashmere sweater.

But in return, Diana was rewarded with a toilet roll holder.

Princess Diana told Andrew: “It was highly fraught. 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.”