Meghan Markle’s cheap and funny gift to Queen Elizabeth earns laughter

Meghan Markle’s silly Christmas gift to Queen Elizabeth II has earned laughs from Her Majesty. Prince Harry’s American fiancée won over not only the Queen, but her corgis as well, during her first Christmas at Sandringham.

The British royals, in a nod to their German ancestry tradition, exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. But they don’t exchange luxury items. They’re royals; they already live in luxury. Instead, they gift each other gag gifts, and Markle appeared to have been successful in her first try with an inexpensive gift to the Queen.

According to the Daily Star, Queen Elizabeth was left “in hysterics” after receiving Markle’s gift for her. The “Suits” star reportedly gave her fiancé’s imposing grandmother a singing toy hamster, which her pooches snatched from her almost immediately.

“Meghan bought a little hamster that sings with a little rope for Her Majesty,” a source told the publication. “It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy. She laughed and said, ‘they can keep my dogs company!’”

The source also revealed how the gifts are presented to the family members. The gifts are apparently on trestle tables in the palace’s white drawing room. The names were at each table for each family.

While Markle went for funny as a gift for her future in-law, Kate Middleton once went for a heart-warming do-it-yourself gift for the Queen. The Duchess of Cambridge, who married Prince William in 2011, recalled the first time she was invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham, the Queen’s country estate.

“I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present,” she said in the ITV documentary for Her Majesty’s 90^th birthday last year. “I was thinking, ‘Gosh, what should I give her?’

“I thought back to what I would give my own grandparents. And I thought, ‘I’ll make her something.’ What could have gone horribly wrong? But I decided to make my granny’s recipe of chutney.”

The duchess said she was initially worried how to Queen would perceive her simple gift, so she was relieved that the chutney was on the table the next day. "I think such a simple gesture went such a long way for me, and I’ve noticed she’s done that on lots of occasions. I think it just shows her thoughtfulness really and her care in looking after everybody."

Markle, who was said to have had stayed at William and Kate’s Anmer Hall residences during the holiday, will wed Harry in May.