Cooked for by personal chefs, the Queen follows a light diet of mostly meat, fish and vegetables – with the odd sweet treat thrown in. A former personal chef to her majesty has given an insight into the monarch’s eating habits – her favourite treats and her absolute no-go foods.
Darren McGrady has spoken prolifically about what it is like to work for the royals.
He said in a previous interview that a red leather-bound book of menus, written in French, would be sent up to the Queen each week, containing a variety of recipes for the monarch to choose from.
He said: “We prepared the menus three days ahead so we could get the food in.
“The chefs would pick the menus and she would put a line through the ones she didn’t want.
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“Sometimes she’d put a line through it all and put something different – like if she was having dinner with Prince Andrew, his favourite was crème brulee with Sandringham oranges.”
Something that might seem startling to normal people is the fact that, at the time he was cooking for her, the Queen had never tried pizza.
The Queen is reportedly not a fan of heavy, starchy foods – and avoids them where possible.
Speaking to US weekly earlier this year, the chef said: “In the years that I cooked at [Buckingham] Palace, the queen never had pizza.
“They would have burgers, but not the buns, so they would eat it with their knife and fork.”
She also has a soft spot for chocolate – something that has been well documented by her many royal chefs.
Mr McGrady said: “She is absolutely a chocoholic.
“Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie.”
But the key element of the monarch’s eating routine is the very British afternoon tea.
According to McGrady, the Queen’s afternoon tea often comes with a honey and cream sponge cake, as well as chocolate biscuit cake, which Her Majesty adores.
According to the former chef, McGrady, two types of sandwiches are obligatory at High Tea, such as cucumber, smoked salmon, and egg with mayonnaise or ham and mustard with no crusts.
Additionally, the Queen enjoys jam pennies – buttered bread with jam cut into small penny-sized circles.
