Everyone is panic buying lentils because they are on Prince George's school menu

Seriously.

Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde

Prince George started school last week, and since his first day at Thomas's Battersea the details of his school life have been the subject of much interest. We already know that he shares a class with another little royal, and that there's a rule that stops him from having a best friend.

And it seems that he also shares his mother, Kate Middleton's, ability to make anything he touches sell-out almost immediately. The high-street school shoes he wore on his first day were out of stock within hours of him starting.

Now, it seems that George-fever has reached its peak. Earlier this week, it became public knowledge that Prince George's school dinner menu was comparable to something you'd find at a fancy restaurant. Forget turkey twizzlers and potato smiley faces - the prince will be able to chose from a variety of top-notch food, from freshly prepared authentic lamb ragout with garlic and fresh herbs, to salmon fillet with a salsa verdi.

But it's the option of smoked mackerel on a bed of puy lentils that has sent the public into a frenzy. According to lentil growers, the demand for the product has gone through the roof since the menu was leaked.

'It’s the star effect – as soon as a VIP is linked to a product,' Antoine Wassner, head of lentil firm Sabarot, told French newspaper L’Express.

'We’ve had high demand from clients in Britain since the article, notably from restaurants. Maybe the trend won’t last on the other side of the Channel. But with the vogue for being vegan, we’re hopeful.'

Puy lentils are grown in Le-Puy-en-Velay in France. Franck Rocher, chairman of the Puy lentil producers’ association, said: 'We grow them at an altitude of 1,000 metres in a zone that gets a wave of heat that comes up from the south every June. The plants ripen very quickly, which means the skin is very thin and the lentils are not at all floury.'

People are actually panic buying lentils because Prince George might or might not eat them. Sounds like puy pandemonium (sorry).