Gifts to the British royals

[carlota]

hi everyone,

a friend of mine has started a kids clothing firm in the UK and wanted to send harry and meghan a birth gift when they have their baby. she knew about my interest in royals and asked if there is a protocol for sending gifts to royals or if it is appropriate to send a gift at all. i know there are rules on this (and some are dependant on the actual court you send to) but i told her i am clueless as to the protocol behind it, does anyone know how this works?

 

[Osipi]

From the little I know about the British royals receiving gifts, what I do know is that each and every gift received is cataloged and acknowledged. What will happen to a gift sent to Baby Sussex, I don't know but most likely your friend will receive a "thank you" note acknowledging the gift. It may not be directly from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex themselves but from a member of their staff stating "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appreciate..... " That sort of thing.

 

[Spheno]

2.2 Gifts from businesses

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Gifts offered by commercial enterprises in the UK should normally be declined, unless they are offered as a souvenir of an official visit to the enterprises' premises, to mark a Royal marriage or other special personal occasion. When gifts are accepted, the consent of the Member of The Royal Family should be contingent upon the enterprise undertaking not to exploit the gift for commercial purposes.
Gifts, including samples, should always be returned unless it is not justifiable to do so on the grounds of cost. If such gifts are not returned, they should be treated as official gifts (see Section 3.2).

https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media-packs/gifts_policy_2003.pdf
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[Curryong]

I think when a royal couple has a baby they are usually sent hundreds, if not thousands of such gifts for their infant, and your friend will probably have to be patient in expecting a reply. There is usually a backlog with such things and KP has such a small staff.

If I were your friend I'd pop a single item in a small parcel together with perhaps a little baby greetings card and a short note stating who the gift is from. Make sure that on the outside the recipients at KP know it's clothing and nothing dangerous (those padded envelopes you can get from post offices are ideal,) address it to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex c/o Kensington Palace, and hope for the best!

 

[carlota]

thanks for the info, everyone! i shall mention these pieces of information to her.

 

[eya]

Gifts received by members of the Royal Family whilst carrying out official duties in 2019.


https://www.royal.uk/official-gifts-received-2019