Princess Diana remained a touchstone for style and sentiment decades after her 1997 death, and as the holidays end, admirers can be comforted by the fact they still buy the very Christmas treats that once appeared unfailingly in her stocking.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Diana’s festive preferences have resurfaced through recollections from her former butler, Paul Burrell, 67, who described the gifts she loved to receive after her divorce from Prince Charles.
Quiet Christmases After Royal Split
Following the split, Diana spent the weekend before Christmas with her sons, Prince William, now 43, and Prince Harry, 41, before the boys joined their father and the wider royal family for Christmas Eve and Day.
It was during those quieter celebrations Diana’s more personal traditions took shape, centered on warmth, humor, and small indulgences rather than grandeur.
Burrell recalled the ritual of preparing stockings with the tragic royal – killed aged 36 in a Paris car smash – describing a scene that contrasted sharply with the formality often associated with royal life.
“She and I would make stockings for William and Harry and then William would whisper in my ear and ask me what mummy would like for her Christmas stocking,” Burrell said.
He added he would shop for Diana’s gifts “over the course of the year” and be “stockpiling things while (William and Harry) were away at school,” before wrapping them and placing them in her Christmas stocking.
Perfume, Candles And Simple Comforts
Among the items Diana consistently looked forward to were luxuries that remain widely available today. “(Diana) loved aromatherapy for the bath, and I’d always buy her favorite perfume which Harry and William would pay for – Hermès 24 Faubourg. That was always in her stocking. She loved the Diptyque candles,” Burrell said.
The choices reflected Diana’s appreciation for calm and comfort, a counterbalance to the pressures of public life.
Burrell also revealed a smaller, more playful detail of Diana’s Christmas indulgence. “She would occasionally have one at Christmas time,” he said, referring to the chocolate mints he liked to tuck into her gifts.
The former butler also described Diana’s approach to giving presents, noting that she relished humor and the reactions it provoked.
“Of course, Diana was very jokey and she would put rude things in there too to embarrass (her children),” Burrell said. “William had a calendar one year with naked ladies on it just to make him blush and it worked.”
A source said: “The anecdote underscores a side of Diana that delighted in gently puncturing royal stiffness, particularly with her children.”
Playful Humor And Family Warmth
That irreverence stood in contrast to earlier royal Christmas traditions. Diana, Burrell noted elsewhere, had been “mortified” after receiving a toilet paper holder from Princess Anne during her first Christmas at Sandringham, a reminder of the family’s fondness for gag gifts over the festive season.
Over time, Diana carved out her own version of the holiday, one grounded in intimacy rather than irony and formality.
Today, the perfume and candles Diana favored continue to be sold, offering admirers a tangible connection to her private rituals.
A source said: “For those seeking to honor her memory, the appeal lies not just in the products themselves, but in what they represented: a moment of calm, humor, and humanity within a life lived under relentless scrutiny.
“Diana loved her boys more than anything, and she was glad to get away from Charles and concentrate on lavishing them with attention and giving them fun over Christmas.”
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