Jars of chutney, gross shower caps and a Big Mouth Billy Bass… But don’t let the royals fool you. Their REAL Christmas presents over the years have been gold and jewelry so exquisite they belong in a museum

The Windsors are known for their homemade, fun gifts this time of year. They rarely incur costs.

For her first Christmas at Sandringham in 2011, Catherine, now Princess of Wales, got into the spirit by giving Her Majesty a jar of bone marrow chutney, which she had made from her own grandmother’s recipe.

Prince Harry is said to have once given the Queen a shower cap with ‘Ain’t life a bitch’ embroidered on it, while Meghan is said to have offered a singing hamster toy – which captivated the corgis.

And who could forget the Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish that once delighted Queen Elizabeth, a gift from Prince Andrew?

However, it wasn’t always this way. Gifts in the past were more extravagant, and some contained jewels and gold of such quality that they are now in the Royal Collection.

George III and Queen Charlotte with their children. They exchanged gifts on the 24th at 6 p.m., a custom started by the then Queen and based on the German tradition of heligabend bescherung

The Royal Christmas Tree is admired by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children – an illustration from December 1848 that created a national tradition

In 1842, Prince Albert designed a beautiful brooch featuring a miniature enamel portrait of Princess Victoria, their first child

Since the time of George III and Queen Charlotte, presents have been exchanged on the 24th at 6 p.m., a custom started by the then Queen and based on the German tradition of heligabend bescherung, which almost literally means exchanging presents on Christmas Eve .

In the 19th century, a table was set up for everyone on which the presents were placed.

Queen Victoria, who wrote a diary almost every day of her life, first described the tables of Christmas Eve 1836 when, still a princess, she ‘received from dear Uncle Leopold a beautiful turquoise ring; [and] from the queen a fine piece of Indian gold cloth.’

It was after her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 that royal Christmas celebrations began to become something we recognize today.

An 1848 engraving of the Prince and Queen with their children decorating a tree proved an inspiration and marked the effective beginning of what has become a tradition.

Albert gave his wife a gold and champlevé enamel bracelet, each link containing a miniature portrait of one of their children at the age of four

The names were engraved on the back and a lock of hair was encapsulated

Prince Albert especially wanted to give his wife sentimental jewelry.

In 1842 he designed a beautiful brooch with a miniature enamel portrait of Princess Victoria, their first child. It became one of Queen Victoria’s most valuable pieces.

Vicky is painted as a winged cherub looking upward, with her hands together and holding a pearl necklace from which hangs a real cross with rubies and diamonds.

The delicate, jeweled wings are set with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and yellow topazes in gold.

In her diary that evening, the Queen wrote: ‘One of the things I value most is an enamel of ‘Pussy’ […]dear Albert was so pleased with my joy.’

Three years later, Prince Albert gave his wife a gold and champlevé enamel bracelet, each link containing a miniature portrait of one of their children at the age of four.

When he gave it to her in 1845, only Princess Victoria was on it. But this was extended further for each of the next five children – with their names engraved and a lock of hair wrapped on the back.

Each portrait had four natural pearls at the corners of the blue enameled square link

But perhaps the most luxurious Christmas gifts with jewels are not found in Great Britain, but in the Netherlands. This is the Ruby parure made by the oldest surviving jeweler in the world: Mellerio, in Paris.

Princess Juliana of the Netherlands wears the ruby ​​red parure tiara, a pair of earrings and a cummerbund

Queen Máxima is pictured in Amsterdam wearing the ruby ​​red parure tiara, necklace, bracelet and earrings

Henry VIII would take anyone who gave him a gift to the Tower of London to choose a reciprocal gift

At Christmas 1888, King William of the Netherlands presented his second wife Emma with the diamond and ruby ​​parure, which consisted of a tiara, a necklace, a stomach ornament, a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a brooch, designed with the classical motifs of the Belle Epoque – streamers and scrolls. The tiara is often worn by Queen Máxima.

Henry VIII was perhaps the most generous to his noble subjects, according to Louise Cooling in A Royal Christmas – anyone who gave him a Christmas present was invited to the Jewel House in the Tower of London on New Year’s Day to receive a reciprocal gift to choose.

Not the crown jewels I hasten to add!

• Josie Goodbody is a jewelry writer and author of mystery novels