The Queen traditionally gives one hundredweight of coal to poor people living in Windsor. In the early days of her reign this added up to around 900 people, but today the figure is less than 100. As royal expert Brian Hoey explained on Wales Online, this is because central heating has almost done away with coal fires completely, rendering her gift obsolete.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t give out any presents at all though – she apparently gives around 1500 Christmas puddings to her staff.
The Royal Family website reads: “All members of The Royal Household will receive Christmas presents from The Queen, and Her Majesty will personally hand out presents to some members of The Royal Household at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
“Continuing the tradition from her father, King George VI and her grandfather, George V – The Queen also gives Christmas puddings to her staff.
“About 1500 Christmas puddings paid for by The Queen (through the Privy Purse) are distributed to staff throughout the Palaces, staff in the Court Post Office and Palace police.
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“Each pudding is accompanied by a greeting card from The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.”
The 93-year-old monarch also apparently donates to several charities based in Windsor at Christmas.
The Queen is of course the patron of hundreds of charities, as is the Prince of Wales and many other Royal Family members, who do incredible work for a wide range of organisations year-round.
However, she gives some extra money to local organisations in honour of the Christmas festivities.
On top of this, she gives Christmas trees to churches and schools in the Sandringham area, as well as to Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Giles’ Cathedral and Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.
According to Mr Hoey, she also gives gift tokens or book tokens to staff members – and they have to decide which as early as nine months in advance which one they would like.
He wrote that in 2014, just before Easter, the Queen’s chief housekeeper at Buckingham Palace sent an email to every member of the household – around 550 people including part-timers – asking them to decide which they would like.
However, Royal Household members have to have been working there for over a year or they will not receive anything.
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Also, the value of their gift will be proportional to their seniority.
Mr Hoey wrote: “They cannot have anything – as Prince Charles might put it – ‘above their station’."
This means the most junior staff members are eligible for a voucher worth £28, and it increases year by year to a maximum of £35.
To receive their gifts, royal staff must file into one of the State Apartments on the ground floor at Buckingham Palace and first listen to their annual performance report.
The Lord Chamberlain, Head of the Royal Household, gives a short speech on how they performed in that calendar year.
Then, the Queen arrives and individually hands each person their present in order of precedence.
The most important get theirs first – private secretaries, Keeper of the Privy Purse, Crown Equerry and the Master of the Household.
These are then followed by Senior Officials such as accountants and administrators and then Officials, including office clerks and press officers.
Finally, all the domestic workers receive their presents from the Queen – eg. cooks, footmen, maids, cleaners, chauffeurs and gardeners.
Their names are called out, they come forward to meet the Queen and she hands over the beautifully wrapped token.
Mr Hoey said: “They thank her, saying it was exactly what they wanted.
“And of course it is, after all, they chose it themselves nine months ago!”
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