While the late Princess Diana was undoubtedly beloved, the royal was known to be quite rebellious when it came to royal protocol. From her scandalous outfits to her infamous Panorama interview, it was clear that the Princess of Wales wasn’t totally on board with everything that came along with being a royal.
According to biographer Andrew Morton, for example, Diana especially hated one major occasion every year: Christmas!
Per theDiana: Her True Story author, Diana hated King Charles‘ family’s tradition of celebrating Christmas every year in their Sandringham estate, per People.
“It was highly fraught,” Diana reportedly once told Morton.
As the story goes, Diana’s distaste for the event started when she went all out during her first Christmas celebration in 1981, which was merely five months after her wedding to Charles on July 29, 1981. To prepare, she bought everyone in the family “thoughtful and expensive gifts.”
Unfortunately, however, once gift-giving started, she realized that the family only gave out gag gifts instead. “I know I gave, but I can’t remember being a receiver,” she said of the experience. “Isn’t that awful? I do all the presents, and Charles signs the cards. [It was] terrifying and so disappointing. No boisterous behavior, lots of tension, silly behavior, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood.”
“I sure was [an outsider],” Diana added.
As an example, Morton said Diana gave her sister-in-law Princess Anne a cashmere sweater while she only got a toilet paper holder in return. Would it be funny if Diana was in on the joke? Absolutely. But knowing that she probably was already feeling like an outsider, not being privy to the traditions must’ve really stung.
“The princess just hated going to Sandringham for Christmas,” Kitty Kelley in her book The Royals. “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,” Kelley added.
Now that we know how strained Diana’s relationships with the rest of the royal family became, it’s no wonder to us that it all started as early as six months into her marriage.
Before you go, click here to see all of our favorite photos of Princess Diana.
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