Lorraine Kelly
If gift wrapping turns your living room into a war zone every December, you’re not alone — and according to the woman trusted with gift wrapping duties for The King, Camilla and Prince William, most of us have been doing it wrong for years.
Jane Means, the present-wrangling wizard who has wrapped for The Royal Household and a string of celebrities, has teamed up with The Motor Ombudsman to help the nation face its festive fears. And frankly, after seeing the latest stats, it’s clear we need all the help we can get.
A new poll of 2,000 Brits shows one in five simply cannot wrap a present, while 60% break into a cold sweat the moment a gift isn’t a neat rectangle. Only 20% reckon they’ve mastered the craft, and 70% say they loathe the whole business. More than half admit wrapping is the low point of the season — which says a lot, considering the in-laws exist.
Means isn’t surprised. “Wrapping presents can seem like a simple task, but most people struggle with it,” Jane explains. “Using too little or too much paper, folding it in the wrong places, and drowning it in far too much tape can make the process much more cumbersome and stressful than it needs to be.”
Festive Meltdowns Are Practically a National Sport
It doesn’t take long for tempers to blow either. A full 67% say irritation hits fast, with “festive frustration” kicking in around the 16-minute mark.
The biggest bugbears?
- Not finding the end of the tape (51%)
- Tape sticking in the wrong place (39%)
- Paper running out (35%)
- Cutting sheets too small (30%)
- And the tape roll mysteriously disappearing — usually because we’ve used half of it on one corner (29%)
Round presents send 21% over the edge. Seventeen per cent say punching a hole through the paper is the final straw. And when things go south, the reactions get… spirited.
A third of Brits have torn up the paper in rage.
Twenty-eight per cent have lobbed the tape across the room.
Twenty-two per cent have shouted, and 13% have full-on screamed.
Nearly a quarter have quit mid-wrap and refused to continue.
Some take avoidance to Olympic levels: one in six have handed over a gift completely unwrapped, while 8% have avoided buying certain presents altogether because they didn’t know how to cover them.
Enter Car-istmas: The UK’s First Drive-Through Wrapping Service
To save the nation’s dignity — and living rooms — Jane joined forces with The Motor Ombudsman to launch the UK’s first-ever Car-istmas® drive-through wrapping service.
Drivers, each facing an average of 18 gifts to wrap before the big day, simply pulled up, rolled down the window and passed their presents to Jane. No wrestling with paper. No battles with tape. No screaming into the void.
The service saved participants roughly 56 minutes of solo wrapping misery, all from the comfort of the driver’s seat. Mechanics even gave each car a quick once-over, ensuring both vehicle and gifts were safely roadworthy.
Alex Lindley, CEO of the Motor Ombudsman-accredited Lindleys Autocentres group of garages, which hosted the drive-through, summed it up: “To avoid any nightmares at Christmas and any unwanted interruptions to the long-awaited festive break, preparing your car for the road ahead is just as crucial in ensuring everyone and their gifts all arrive safely.”
The Royal Wrapper’s Golden Rules
Means also shared her common-sense errors to avoid — the over-taping, the wrong-way folds, the origami-level overthinking. Her ten practical tips form the backbone of the campaign, nudging Britain toward neater corners, calmer tempers, and gifts that look like they were wrapped by someone who didn’t lose the will to live halfway through.
Whether you’re tackling a football, a bottle, or a box with ideas above its station, her message is clear: the right paper, the right folds, a measured amount of tape, and a bit of patience can turn even the most wrapping-averse soul into a present-prepping professional.
And if not? There’s always next year’s Car-istmas queue.
| Tip | Top wrapping tip |
|---|---|
| 1 | When wrapping a box, use double-sided tape, as it will give a professional finish and seamless look. Ensure you don’t have too much excess paper, as it will be more difficult to wrap. |
| 2 | For awkward gifts, choose a flexible material such as fabric, tissue or cellophane, as it will mould around the shape more easily than paper. |
| 3 | Wrap really bulky and large items in a paper tablecloth. It is much easier than joining paper and is inexpensive. |
| 4 | For extra-large gifts, use plain brown packing paper as a base, then add a strip of decorative or Christmas print across the middle, and finish with ribbon. This will make a cheap, eye-catching feature and ensure the ribbon doesn’t look lost on the item. |
| 5 | Write your tags first and place them on top of the presents you are wrapping, as there is nothing more annoying than wrapping several gifts and not remembering who they are for! |
| 6 | Add finishing touches to your presents, including fresh foliage, baubles, feathers and recycled Christmas decorations. |
| 7 | Be organised and buy lots of supplies early, including non-Christmas wrap that can be used all year round. You always need more materials than you think, so bulk buy. |
| 8 | Inject some personalisation to really give the ‘wow’ factor. You could tie in dried flowers for a gardener, wrap in music scores for a musician or photocopy old photos for a school friend. |
| 9 | If you are running short of time, bundle a couple of gifts together. A stack of presents looks very effective and will save on materials. |
| 10 | Enjoy the experience, and make some time for yourself with a tipple and some favourite music. You could even invite friends around and have a wrapping party. |
