Queen gifted Prince George ‘frugal’ present – after he was lavished with £10k bracelet, £7k sculpture & £325 toy box
TRYING to think of innovative presents for special occasions can be tricky enough, let alone when you're gifting the future king.
But while Prince George has been gifted a large range of rather lavish presents over the course of his 10 years, his great-grandmother, the Queen, opted for a much more frugal approach.
The late monarch, whose love of Corgis saw seven people prepare their meals and a footman sacked for a cruel prank, gifted her great-grandson a very sentimental gift - a T-shirt printed with a portrait of her beloved pooches.
The white top, which features a portrait of the late monarch's seven dogs, was inspired by a painting that was took pride of place in the Queen's private quarters at Buckingham Palace.
UK-based artist Cindy Lass, who created the T-shirt design, revealed she was first commissioned to do a painting of the Queen's corgis in 2006, which she delivered for her 80th birthday.
She then went onto explain exactly how the T-shirt came about years later.
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"I thought I'd do a cushion for Her Majesty of the corgis with a crown on the back of it," she said, speaking to Hello! magazine.
"And when I was sending it in, I had done a sample for a one-year-old T-shirt and I thought it would be nice for her great-grandson to have so I sent a sample with it."
The talented artist revealed that the Queen sent her a personalised thank you note saying how it was "kind to enclose the T-shirt" and she "greatly appreciated" the gift.
"When I got the letter back to say that Her Majesty had passed it on to him, it was very sweet," she added.
And Prince George hasn't been short of gifts over the years...he was just eight-months-old when Pope Francis offered him a present he would unlikely be allowed to play with - an orb of Lapis Lazuli topped with a cross of St Edward the Confessor.
Weighing it at an impressive several pounds, it's made of solid stone and has some very dangerous sharp edges, making it too dangerous for a baby.
The Queen was enjoying a day trip to Rome in April 2014 where she had lunch with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano when she got given the gift by Pope Francis for her great-grandson.
The ornate cross featured a label which read “Dono di Papa Francesco” - a reminder that it was gifted from the Holy Father.
But the ornate cross isn't the only rather random present Prince George has been presented with in his time.
Pippa Middleton reportedly gifted her nephew a "creepy" Christening gift, which set her back an estimated £7,000.
The mum-of-three, who is Kate Middleton's sister, decided to splash out on a bespoke silver keepsake of his hands and feet, which was made by a small London-based company called Wrightson and Platt.
And, to mark his birth, jewellery designer to the stars Theo Fennell - who counts everyone from the Beckhams to Elton John amongst his A-lsit clientelle - created a lavish £10,000 18ct white gold charm bracelet as a present for George and mother, Kate Middleton.
The talented jeweller was commissioned by Sudocrem to make a bespoke bracelet modelled on the iconic Sudocrem pot.
However, the gift was later auctioned off, with the money kindly going to East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) chairty, which was formed following the extra publicity for the charity after Kate became patron in 2012.
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Meanwhile, to mark his christening, which took place at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace on October 23, 2013 in London when he was aged three-months-old, Prince George was gifted a toy box by the Prime Minister's Cabinet.
The £325 hand-crafted pine box, which features rope handles and an intricately carved teddy and soldier, was made my Leeds-based company Hibba Toys UK in Shadwell.
