The bizarre presents gifted to the Royal Family in 2013: Including a gingerbread Cathedral, a gnome and an Oyster Card

Granted, the royals probably aren't the easiest to buy for. But a book called Your Arms Remind Me of Pork Luncheon Meat? Really?

Granted, the Queen probably isn’t the easiest to buy for. What would one bestow upon the monarch that has it all?

Granted, the Queen probably isn’t the easiest to buy for. What would one bestow upon the monarch that has it all?

It seems many foreign dignitaries, charities and private donors in 2013 struggled to answer that question, if some of the 70 presents gifted to the Royal Family in 2013 are anything to go by.

Among the most bizarre?

There’s the member of the Sri Lankan parliament who presented a portrait of the Queen burned into the trunk of a tree.

Or the kind dignitary that showered Princess Anne with a plastic stand-up angel, a garden gnome and a book called Your Arms Remind Me of Pork Luncheon Meat (imagine her face when she unwrapped that literary treat).

The Duke of York was particularly lucky to be given a hamper of edible delights, which included a giant gingerbread Cathedral and a chocolate bear.

Decorative elephants, ostrich eggs and chests of tea were the order of the day for Prince Charles, while The Queen had the strangest run of gifts of all: a commemorative Oyster Card, an Ostrich egg, an artillery cartridge and a framed copy of the Radio Times.

There are, however, strict rules around what the Royals can receive. Extravagant gift giving is discouraged, while presents deemed inappropriate or that “appear to place the member of the Royal Family under any obligation to the donor” can be refused.

An official gift is defined as being any object received on an official engagement. Only items that are worth less than £150 are considered ‘personal gifts’.

The details of the items and donors gifted to the royal family were released by Buckingham Palace and Clarence House earlier this week.