Prince Harry's 'cold-blooded' Christmas gift from royal relative that left him speechless

Prince Harry was once left speechless by an unusual present from a royal relative on Christmas Eve and branded it 'cold-blooded' in his eye-opening memoir Spare

Prince Harry hasn't joined his royal relatives to celebrate Christmas in years, and this one was no different.

For the last five years, the Duke of Sussex has spent the festive season with his wife, Meghan Markle, in sunny California. But before Harry distanced himself from the Royal Family, he took part in all of their traditions. As a child, he would celebrate Christmas Eve at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where they would swap presents under the tree.

The royals' incredibly privileged lives mean that they rarely want for anything. In fact, it is a well-known tradition that the royals actually buy small, cheap, joke presents for each other. But it seems Harry was left baffled one year by a gift he received from an unlikely royal relative - and he even branded it 'cold-blooded'.

Writing in his memoir Spare, Harry mentions Princess Margaret fleeitngly, his great-aunt and the late Queen's sister. The Duke lovingly calls her "Aunt Margo" in his book but admits he didn't know her very well, despite sharing "12.5 percent" of her DNA.

He says that on one Christmas Eve at Sandringham, when everyone was getting ready to open their gifts, Margaret gifted him an unusual present - a tiny biro with a rubber fish wrapped around it.

He recalls: "Standing before my pile, I chose to open the smallest present first. The tag said: 'From Aunt Margo'. I looked over, called out: 'Thank you, Aunt Margo!'" After opening the gift, Harry says he was surprised and thanked Margaret, who he says pointed out that it was not just any biro, but a special one.

Harry adds: "It wasn't just any biro, she pointed out. It had a tiny rubber fish wrapped around it. I said: 'Oh. A fish biro! OK.' I told myself: That is cold-blooded." In his book, Harry also adds that growing up he thought he and Margaret should have been friends as they were "Two Spares" and had a lot in common.

The memoir says: "Her relationship with Granny wasn't an exact analogue of mine with Willy, but pretty close. The simmering rivalry, the intense competition (driven largely by the older sibling), it all looked familiar. Aunt Margo also wasn't that dissimilar from Mummy. Both rebels, both labelled as sirens."

Relations between Prince William and Harry have long been strained despite their closeness in their younger years. The fallout is said to have begun before Harry's wedding to former Suits star Meghan, with the duke accusing William of being snobbish to his bride.

But it worsened after the accusations Harry publicly levelled at his brother in double tell-alls: his memoir, Spare, and his Netflix documentary. In his autobiography, released just months after Elizabeth II died, Harry accused William of physically attacking him and pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan.

Harry and Meghan, in their Netflix series two months after the Queen's death, claimed Kensington Palace lied to protect William when it issued a statement denying a story he had bullied Harry out of the Royal Family. The palace has never responded to the claims in the couple's show.

Harry also wrote of how Charles pleaded with his two sons during a tense meeting at Windsor just after the funeral of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, saying: "Please, boys. Don't make my final years a misery."