What do you buy the person who has everything? That was the question facing the Duchess of Cambridge as she prepared for her very first Christmas at Sandringham with the Queen.
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After a great deal of thought, she eventually decided to bring along something homemade, making up a batch of chutney from her own grandmother's recipe. Kate previously recalled the heartwarming moment in an ITV documentary for the Queen's 90th birthday – which was also her first solo television interview.
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"She (the Queen) really cares," she said. "I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas. And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present. I was thinking, 'Gosh, what should I give her?'
"I thought back to what I would give my own grandparents. And I thought, 'I'll make her something.' Which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney."
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Kate admitted she was worried about what to give the Queen for Christmas
She added: "I was slightly worried about it, but I noticed the next day that it was on the table.
"I think such a simple gesture went such a long way for me and I've noticed since she's done that on lots of occasions and I think it just shows her thoughtfulness, really, and her care in looking after everybody."
The recipe is thought to have been a marrow chutney; Pippa Middleton's 2012 recipe book Celebrate includes instructions for 'Granny's Marrow Chutney', which takes several hours to prepare.
Duchess Kate's chutney recipe is her grandmother's
The two-hour documentary, Our Queen At 90, also features interviews with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and his daughter Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Another clip from the show, released last week, show Kate revealing little Prince George's nickname for the Queen – Gan-Gan. She also said the Queen "always leaves a little gift or something" in the rooms of Prince George and Princess Charlotte when they come to stay. "That just shows, I think, her love for her family," the Duchess added.
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