A private archive belonging to Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, has revealed handwritten Christmas gift lists and personal correspondence that offer a rare glimpse into Royal Family festivities during the 1920s and 1930s. The documents, held at Harewood House in Leeds, are now inspiring the former royal residence's Christmas programme.
Archive Reveals Royal Gift-Giving Traditions
Senior curator and archivist Beckie Burton described the archive as "strictly private, but it's of national importance and it's fascinating." The collection includes rare handwritten gift lists and letters between Princess Mary and her parents, King George and Queen Mary.
Burton noted that the documents show both the relatable and extraordinary aspects of royal Christmas celebrations: "On the one hand, it demonstrates how relatable they are; they experience Christmas as a family, with all the preparations and dynamics that come with it - including discussing who is buying what for whom, what it's costing and organising shopping trips. But then you look at the sheer scale of the gift giving and it reminds you the world they inhabited is very different to that of most other people."
From Jade Vases to Coal Scuttles
The gift lists detail hundreds of presents, from lavish personal items for family to practical gifts for household staff. They range from an elaborate jade vase and an antique seal, a present to her father in 1924, to spectacle cases, a bed jacket, a silver tea strainer, and soap. Princess Mary, who married Henry Viscount Lascelles, later the 6th Earl of Harewood, in 1922, kept track of gifts given and received in a series of organised ring binders.
In 1930, she wrote to thank her parents for a coal scuttle "now in my sitting room," as well as "a most useful table," and thanked her mother for spoiling the children with a toy fort. Burton explained that Princess Mary sent about 600 cards to family and friends each year, and that Queen Mary would often include gift ideas in letters to her daughter, a practice Burton compared to sending photos today: "Today we might snap a photo of something and send it - it's an earlier version of that."
Royal Christmas Traditions and Family Tensions
The archive also reveals Christmas traditions, including the exchange of gifts on Christmas Eve, a German custom established by Prince Albert. On Boxing Day 1922, Queen Mary wrote to her daughter describing how the family had "gone up to the big table as usual" on Christmas Eve and that "dear Grannie" - Dowager Queen Alexandra - "had arranged it all so nicely in spite of all the many disturbances and the calls on her time."
The following year, Queen Mary reported that "naughty David never turned up till dinner time as he was hunting all day" - a reference to her son, who became King Edward VIII before abdicating. The King was also displeased with his son, Prince Henry, known as Harry, arriving late, "which we thought very rude."
Legacy and Modern Festivities
Princess Mary's gift-giving began early; in 1914, she launched an appeal to send every member of the armed services a Christmas present in the form of a small brass box. In all, £15m was raised and 2.5m boxes were sent. Princess Mary, who died in 1965, trained as a paediatric nurse during WWI and promoted the Women's Land Army.
Her descendants still use the private apartments at Harewood for Christmas gatherings. For 2026, the house will present Magic at the Mansion, a collaboration with immersive multimedia experts Studio McGuire, featuring projection mapping to bring stories of Christmas at Harewood to life. The event runs from Friday 6 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.
