Given their status, it’s easy to believe that members of the royal family might dine exclusively on caviar and lobster. However, the truth is far more surprising. From simple smoothies and nostalgic desserts to fast-food favourites and even kippers for breakfast, the dishes the royals really love may not be what you expect.
Here we reveal the favourite foods of royals past and present, counting down to the most astonishing of all.
Having celebrated her 50th birthday in 2022, Spain’s Queen Letizia is proof that a balanced diet can help us stay fit and healthy at any age. According to Hello! magazine, she follows the Perricone Diet, which places emphasis on 'inner wellbeing' and anti-inflammatory foods. That means she likely consumes plenty of freshwater fish, such as grilled salmon, as well as fresh vegetables, berries, eggs, leafy greens, nuts, natural yogurt and olive oil – all of which, fortunately for Queen Letizia, are abundant in the Mediterranean.
Although meat is central to the traditional Spanish diet, Queen Sofía – the Greek-born wife and Queen Consort of King Juan Carlos I – hasn’t eaten it since the 1960s. Instead, she’s believed to enjoy plenty of vegetables along with fish, making her dietary preference pescatarian rather than strictly vegetarian.
The charming and progressive Queen Consort of Jordan, Rania Al-Abdullah, is an advocate of healthy living and is said to follow a macrobiotic diet. She’s known to have a fondness for couscous, almonds, walnuts and Mediterranean cuisine, and her treat of choice is dark chocolate.
The statuesque Zimbabwean, a former Olympic swimmer who married Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2011, is said to have a fondness for lemon chicken seasoned with African spices. She stays in shape by focusing on a diet rich in fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, and she drinks plenty of water each day.
During her reign as Queen of Castille (from 1474 until her death in 1504), Isabel la Católica became known for her love of food. She was said to adore partridges, enjoying them in all forms and at any time of day – breakfast included. She was also thought to be a huge fan of manjar blanco, a creamy and comforting sweet-savoury dish made from milk, rice flour, chicken, sugar and rose water.
Rumour has it that Prince Philip, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s consort, was a bit of a foodie. While the palace never disclosed his favourite meals, former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh was especially fond of Gaelic steak – enhanced with McGrady’s secret ingredient, Marmite. According to other sources, he also enjoyed steak Diane.
Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded in 1536, was said to be fond of fruit – especially damsons, pears, plums and strawberries. Baker Dean Martin of Newens Tea House in Kew, England, has even suggested that she and the King shared a taste for maids of honour tarts, tasty English custard tarts that are best enjoyed warm. According to legend, Anne was eating one when she first caught Henry’s eye.
The popular Australian commoner, who married a Danish prince after meeting him in a Sydney pub, is famed for her style and poise. She is said to follow the 'Danish diet', consuming lots of oily fish such as salmon, as well as root vegetables, potatoes and only one type of bread – rye.
Henry VIII’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I of England, was a sucker for sugar – which, in Tudor times, was reserved only for the very rich. The Virgin Queen favoured a kind of marzipan called marchpane and dried fruits known as suckets, but her teeth suffered as a result, becoming black and rotten in her older years.
The Sun King, famed for building the Palace of Versailles, lived an extravagant life and had a voracious appetite. His second wife, Madame de Maintenon, reportedly remarked that if she ate even half as much in one meal as he did, she'd be dead within a week. He was partial to oysters and citrus fruit, judging by the size of his orange tree grove, and he loved his food richly spiced – much to the consternation of courtiers with more delicate stomachs.
Marie Antoinette had simple culinary tastes, although she loved hot chocolate. In private, she chose plain Austrian bread that reminded her of home, along with broths, boiled poultry, pure water and lemonade. She drank sparingly, preferring the very opposite of the sumptuous cuisine offered at court.
Although Princess Diana was known for eating healthily – avoiding carbs and red meat, and sticking to the likes of poached chicken and stuffed peppers – her personal chef Darren McGrady has revealed that she had a sweet tooth, too. She especially loved popular British dessert bread and butter pudding, and she was also partial to crème brûlée.
During an appearance on Mary Berry's Christmas special, A Very Berry Christmas, back in 2019, Princess Catherine revealed that the endlessly energetic Prince Louis is a big fan of beetroot. She said that the earthy, bold-flavoured root vegetable was her youngest son's favourite, and that it's grown, along with carrots and beans, in the palace garden.
The 18th-century Russian Queen liked sturgeon and Champagne soup – a very expensive and lavish dish that reflected the opulent lifestyle she led at court. She was also known to favour boiled beef with pickles, as well as cutlets made from minced game meat.
The Argentinian-born Dutch queen is rumoured to have a sweet tooth for chocolate mousse and dulce de leche (caramelised milk). She's also said to enjoy hagelslag, a traditional Dutch breakfast food similar to dark chocolate sprinkles, which are spread on buttered bread. For her 49th birthday, she released the recipe for her favourite Argentinian cookies, alfajores.
Queen Elizabeth II was something of a chocoholic – she loved chocolate mousse and chocolate biscuit cake – and the darker the chocolate, the better. According to her former chef of 15 years, Darren McGrady, she was particularly fond of dark mint chocolates and chocolate truffles, especially those with aromatic, floral notes. Her favourite dessert was chocolate perfection pie, made from semi-sweet chocolate, egg yolks, double cream and cinnamon in a pastry case, topped with grated white and dark chocolate.
Queen Victoria, who ruled Britain from 1837 until 1901, was renowned for loving food and eating quickly. The monarch ate four meals per day – breakfast, lunch, tea and supper – and consumed a meat-heavy diet, which was common among the wealthy in the Victorian age. The Queen was also partial to chocolate, ice cream and cake – her favourite being the quintessentially English teatime treat, Victoria sponge (what else?).
While many children Princess Charlotte’s age might reach for ice cream, chocolate or crisps, the young royal has surprisingly sophisticated tastes. During a 2019 visit to a primary school in Enfield, north London, Princess Catherine revealed that both she and Charlotte love olives. The Princess of Wales has also shared that Charlotte and her brother George enjoy helping in the kitchen, with made-from-scratch cheesy pasta among their favourite recipes.
In 2013, Queen Camilla – then the Duchess of Cornwall – revealed a somewhat surprising love for raw peas. “I tell you what I really like – eating peas straight from the garden,” she told students during a visit to a school in Slough, Berkshire. “If you take them straight from the pod, they are delicious and really sweet. I take all my grandchildren down to the garden and they spend hours and hours eating peas.” She’s also said to be a fan of proper British fish and chips, and baked beans (always Heinz, apparently) on toast.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady has revealed that when the Prince was young, he and his older brother Prince William were fans of comforting puddings like jam roly-poly (a hearty jam and sponge dessert), cottage pie, roast meat and banana flan – in fact, Harry still enjoys banana bakes to this day, according to food website Mashed. Now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex live in the US, Prince Harry has become a fan of one of the country's most popular burger chains, In-N-Out – so much so that, according to his wife, staff even know his go-to order.
In his book On Royalty, Jeremy Paxman revealed that King Charles is so particular about his boiled eggs that staff would prepare up to seven at a time, hoping that one would meet his standards. While the King’s official website has disputed this claim, his former chef Mervyn Wycherley has confirmed it. Back in 2020, King – then Prince – Charles shared one of his favourite brunch recipes on social media: cheesy baked eggs. A coronation quiche was also personally selected by King Charles and Queen Camilla as the centrepiece dish for the nationwide street parties and events celebrating his 2023 coronation.
Not much is known about Princess Anne’s eating habits, though she appears to show the restraint common among royals who dine out frequently. However, she does seem to have a fondness for oily fish, particularly kippers, judging by a complimentary letter she sent to Fortune Kippers, a 140-year-old company based in Yorkshire, England. Her taste for the salty fish may have been influenced by the Queen, who regularly enjoyed kippers for breakfast.
The American who lived the fairytale dream of marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco ate carefully when she was a Hollywood star, snacking on carrot and celery sticks and dried apricots. She was an early advocate of wholemeal bread and rice, and she was aware of the importance of eating well-balanced meals. However, she was equally at home eating peanut butter sandwiches as she was dining at the sumptuous Café de Paris in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
Hussein bin Talal, who was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999, was partial to a hamburger and French fries, according to a 1985 article published in United Press International. His American-born fourth wife and widow, Queen Noor, prefers more natural food and is known to eat very little meat.
A fan of fresh, healthy food – she's said to eat steel-cut oats for breakfast with almond or soy milk, bananas and agave syrup, and she enjoys a daily green juice – it’s perhaps surprising to learn that one of Meghan Markle’s favourite foods is boxed mac ’n’ cheese. “I do really happen to love that boxed macaroni and cheese,” she revealed to lifestyle media platform EyeSwoon in 2015. “I now buy the Annie’s organic one if I’m craving it, but I throw some frozen peas into it and have this gooey, simple, childlike meal.”
The famous Tudor King of England was known for his legendary appetite. Royal feasts of the era were lavish and meat-heavy, and Henry certainly indulged. Yet, according to food writer Bee Wilson, the six-times-married king also had a fondness for fruit – particularly apricots, quince marmalade and orange pies – as well as vegetables like artichokes. He was also partial to baked lampreys, a type of eel-like fish, and enjoyed cream of almonds.
While Prince William is said to enjoy classic dishes like lasagne and roast chicken – and is thought to start the day with a simple breakfast of two eggs, wholegrain toast and a cup of tea – he’s also partial to a takeaway. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Prince William and Princess Catherine said that their takeaway of choice is usually a curry (though Prince William also admitted that he can't really handle spicy food). In 2018, he revealed that he's fond of fast casual chicken chain Nando's; on meeting the chain's co-founder, he told him: "It's very good."
The Duchess of Cambridge is generally a healthy eater, though she has a fondness for Indian and spicy cuisine, as well as rich, indulgent sticky toffee pudding – her favourite, according to food critic Tom Parker Bowles (Queen Camilla’s son) and Rody Warot, head chef at Berkshire’s The Old Boot Inn, which is said to serve her preferred version. That said, her diet is packed with nutritious foods, including a special green smoothie blend made with kale, matcha, spinach, coriander and blueberries.
Now discover the surprising foods the British royal family won’t eat