Queen of England receives chocolate castle and enameled beetle gifts

During her royal engagements last year, the Queen of England was presented with many gifts, including a chocolate Windsor Castle and some enameled beetles.

The Associated Press reported that on Wednesday, Buckingham Palace released a list of official gifts Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family have received this past year.

The British monarch was given the usual jewels, fine wine, china and paperweights.

Some other gifts were less conventional though.

The High Commissioner of Bangladesh gifted the queen four enameled scarab beetles, Sri Lanka's president gave her a portrait burned onto a tree trunk, Mars Bars makers gave her a chocolate version of the Windsor Castle and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, brought a gold jeweled frame set on a jeweled ostrich egg, the AP notes.

The official website of The British Monarchy states that the exchanging of gifts between rulers is a long-standing custom. It started in the 16th centuy when Henry VIII and Francis I of France exchanged gifts at the Field of Cloth of Gold in Northern France.

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.