The Minecraft Realms FAQ states "Though it's named after the Xbox console, it doesn't require an Xbox at all", however I have come across a situation where this is not correct, and an Xbox is required.

My daughter has a child Microsoft account, and associated Xbox account, and when she tries to play Minecraft Realms on her iPad (using Minecraft Pocket Edition) the default privacy settings say she is not allowed. (This also happens with Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta, trying to play Minecraft Realms.)

As it is a child account, trying to change the privacy settings on that account (on the Internet, on xbox.com) gives an error and instructions to use a parent account to change the settings.

When I log in with my parent account (on the Internet, on xbox.com), however, my daughter's account is not listed in my Xbox Family, although she is part of my Microsoft Account Family (on account.microsoft.com).

The instructions for adding a child to a family only talk about how to do this on an Xbox console, however I do not own an Xbox console.

I have just spent a long time going through all this with support, who also do not have any administration access to add a child account to a family.

The only solution given by support is to use an actual Xbox console (they suggested I try and borrow one off a friend), to add the child account to the family, so the parent can change the privacy settings, so that the child can play Minecraft Realms.

Fix: The immediate fix is a documentation update to the FAQ to put an asterisk next to the "it doesn't require an Xbox at all*" statement, and then add details of what I work through with support, e.g.: " * To add a child account to an Xbox Family, in order to change privacy settings to allow access to Minecraft Realms, does require one-off access to an Xbox console (you can borrow one off a friend) to add the child to the family."

Longer term suggestion: As Xbox Live accounts become used more by people who don't own an Xbox console (e.g. Minecraft Realms), you should implement a method to add children to a family via the web account settings (rather than only via a console). There may be many children who want to play, and pay for, Minecraft Realms, but can't use it because they don't have access to an Xbox console.