Prince George Has Picked Up A Naughty Christmas Habit From His Father, Prince William

Prince George has picked up a bad Christmas habit from his father, and Father Christmas may be forced to put coal in his stocking if he doesn’t straighten up, Marie Claire is reporting. And, it’s a behavior problem that you may have observed in your own kids (or maybe even yourself or your siblings when you were kids).

Prince George, though he’s only a few months past his fifth birthday, has already developed a reputation as being one of Prince Charles’ more “cheeky” grandchildren. He almost certainly picked that up from his uncle, Prince Harry, as he’s long been known for wacky shenanigans, while his father, Prince William, has always been the more straight-laced and proper of the two.

But not at Christmas! It seems like every Christian kid’s favorite holiday brings out the worst in some of them, and William and George are no exceptions. George, like his father, apparently has a tendency to find his Christmas presents and open them early.

And this rather adorable form of “dreadful” naughtiness actually runs in the family – William got it from his own mother, Princess Diana.

Back in 1985, when William was a precocious 3.5-year-old, Diana wrote to a friend that he had picked up her own naughty habit of opening Christmas presents early.

“I could not resist opening my presents, as a parcel of any shape or form has never been safe with me. I fear that William has also picked up this dreadful habit from his mother, as I find wrapping paper undone in the most extraordinary places!”

George (and his siblings Charlotte and Louis) will almost certainly enjoy a Christmas filled with glorious toys and presents, likely in a private event with just his closest family. But the adult Windsors, to include their newest member American import Meghan Markle, will enjoy a decades-old set of Christmas traditions of their own.

The family will gather at Sandringham Castle and will enter the Red Drawing Room, the traditional site of the Windsors’ Christmas parties. They will enter the room by rank, being weighed before and after the meal (it’s a joke to see if they’ve been fed enough). Then, they’ll exchange gag gifts, and the rule seems to be, “the cheaper and more ridiculous the better.” For example, as reported by the Inquisitr, Kate Middleton once gifted her then-single brother-in-law Prince Harry with a $5 “grow your own girlfriend kit” (a woman-shaped toy that absorbs water and increases in size).