Wombat, cloak and mini boat among Prince George's 774 gift haul
Queen's great-grandson George received 774 presents last year, according to Britain's palaces
Queen Elizabeth added a throne to her collection and Prince Charles acquired a desert cloak and matching ceremonial swords - but it was Prince George who accumulated the most gifts last year, according to the British royal palaces.
The queen's 18-month-old great-grandson was showered with 774 gifts in 2014, including 603 from Australia alone. Among the presents he received was a polo mallet, fluffy wombat, surfboard, skateboard, cricket bat, rocking horse, an Aboriginal possum skin cloak and his own miniature amphibious boat. Countless other soft toys, books and games for him were among more than 1,000 gifts presented to his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on their official Antipodean tour and elsewhere.
Mangoes were a favoured gift from Pakistan, where a gift of the fruit is seen as a statement of best wishes. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, received two boxes, by post, from outgoing president Asif Ali Zardari in July and another 10 boxes in August from the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who also popped 100 mangoes in the post for his sister, the Princess Royal. The prince was also mailed a platter of dates from Saudi Arabia, while former US secretary of state and first lady Hillary Clinton posted him a copy of her book, .
Horsey-themed gifts featured well on the queen's disclosed list, which also included an 18cm miniature from the set received from Northern Ireland. From the Irish president, Michael D Higgins, she received a bronze statuette of Arkle, the famous Irish steeplechaser. French president François Hollande presented a white mounted sculpture of a horse. The emir of Qatar excelled with a bronze sculpture of a horse's head as a thank you for his day at the Royal Ascot races.
A dressage crop, from David Johnson, governor-general of Canada, and a bristle brush boot scraper, from Felsted School in Essex, will doubtless be of good use. Less so, perhaps, the large wooden coffee grinder from a Jordanian ambassador and two hand-crafted tribal arrows from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maryland.
Prince Charles is now in possession of a traditional Saudi Arabian taiga and three igals, or headrings. He acquired a Stetson in Canada, two baseballs caps and a Metis fur hat, and a panama hat in Mexico. In Colombia, he and the Duchess of Cornwall left with a traditional sombrero each and several maracas. Meanwhile, action man Prince Harry received a Chilean special forces knife and a decommissioned automatic rifle.
