Ever wondered what the Queen likes to eat when she's at home? If she ever fancies a takeaway like Prince William and Kate Middleton, or if her daily menu is packed with fancy foods only? When it comes to a traditional Christmas feast at Sandringham, the family is treated to lobster and whiskey, but what about on an average day?
Well, we know that she has banned this from the royal kitchen - but it turns out that while the Queen can pretty much order whatever she wants, her favourite meals aren't as elaborate as you might think.
Darren McGrady, the Queen's former personal chef of fifteen years, has opened up about the monarch's go-to recipes. In his book, Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen and in a series of YouTube videos he explains exactly what he would prepare for her. The head chef would give the Queen a menu twice a week so that she could select what she wanted, and if she wasn't a fan of something she would simply leave a note for staff to let them know she didn't want it again.
According to McGrady, she eats four small meals a day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
Breakfast for the Queen usually comprises of 'tea and biscuits, followed by a bowl of cereal' according to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, and McGrady says this would usually be followed by a light lunch of grilled fish with spinach or courgettes, or a grilled chicken salad.
A little later, she enjoys an afternoon tea with scones, jam and clotted cream. And it wouldn't matter where in the world she was, the Queen liked her sweet treat.
He says: 'She’d always have afternoon tea wherever she was in the world. We’d flown out to Australia and were on the Royal Yacht. It was five o’clock in the morning but for the Queen it was five in the afternoon so my first job was making scones.'
But every now and then, Her Majesty might request Morecambe Bay potted shrimp on toast or a croque monsieur sandwich with melted Gruyère, ham and whipped eggs.
She also has a sweet tooth and would choose 'anything on the menu that had chocolate on' when it came to dessert, like the 'chocolate perfection pie' which is a layered chocolate pie with white and dark chocolate and chocolate shavings. Same.
When it comes to a tipple to wash it all down, the Queen enjoys a gin and Dubonnet or a glass of champagne.
McGrady also revealed that every Friday, the staff at Buckingham Palace would have fish and chips for lunch but that the Queen would have panko breadcrumbs instead of batter, with her favourite condiments being Lea & Perrins, HP Sauce or Heinz ketchup.
But with all this food on offer, does the Queen ever just fancy a sneaky trip to McDonalds?
Apparently, no.
He said: 'The Queen never ordered fast food. When you’ve got 20 chefs in the kitchen, why would you? You can call down to the kitchen and order whatever you want.'
Fair enough.
