We all like a treat now and again, and the Queen is no different. “She loves chocolate,” her former chef of 15 years, Darren McGrady told MarieClaire.com. “That was her favourite, and it has to be dark chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the better.”
For something healthier, mangoes are the Queen's snack of choice. Former Buckingham Palace chef John Higgins told the National Post: “She could tell you how many mangoes were in the fridge at Buckingham Palace”. Meanwhile, Darren McGrady told The Telegraph that Prince Andrew loves the tropical fruit too: “Every Christmas, he'd get sent a gift of mangoes and he'd come into the kitchen bellowing: 'Where are my mangoes?'”
Prince Charles is such an advocate of pesticide-free food, he launched his own organic range (Duchy Originals) more than 25 years ago. He is even known to take cool bags of home-cooked dishes on tour with him. “He liked to have his own food with him,” his former chef Carolyn Robb told the Daily Mail. “He couldn’t risk going down with a bad stomach when he was so busy.” He's pictured here celebrating the 21st anniversary of his organic food range.
The Duchess of Cornwall has revealed an unusual penchant for raw peas, according to the Mirror. “I tell you what I really like – eating peas straight from the garden,” she told students during a visit to a school in Slough, UK. “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."
During her first Christmas at Sandringham, the Duchess of Cambridge was understandably anxious about what to buy the Queen. In the end, she opted for a thoughtful homemade gift: a jar of marrow chutney. She told an ITV documentary: "I thought, 'I'll make her something', which could have gone horribly wrong. But I decided to make my granny's recipe of chutney." Kate was delighted to find it on the dining table the next day.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge revealed that their takeaway of choice is usually a curry – though the pair do spend time deliberating over pizza or Chinese too. However, Prince William also admitted that he's not a fan of spicy food.
The Queen's garden parties are the stuff of legend, with thousands of people in attendance and some 27,000 cups of tea served on the day. The Queen's guests get through around 20,000 slices of cakes too, and a classic Victoria Sponge is a staple. The cake is named for Queen Victoria and the royal offering features a simple sponge recipe, with lashings of raspberry or strawberry jam and butter cream and a dusting of icing sugar. Dainty sandwiches and scones join it on the menu.
Unlike generations of other school children, Prince George doesn’t have to put up with squashed sandwiches on his lunch break. The sample menus listed on the website of Thomas's Battersea school, which he usually attends, include salmon wellington, chickpea and apricot tagine, and freshly prepared chicken katsu.
Sticky toffee pudding from Berkshire pub the Old Boot Inn is Kate Middleton's preferred dessert, according to People. The pub, and especially the "moist and spongy" pudding, has long been a favourite with Kate and her family. Chef Rody Warot says she also loves the "pâté on toasted brioche or the roast figs on Parma ham with spicy apple chutney, followed by the tiger prawn and wild mushroom linguine".
During a visit to an Enfield primary school in north London for Children's Mental Health Week in 2019, Kate Middleton revealed that Princess Charlotte "loves olives". According to People, the Duchess of Cambridge said Charlotte and George enjoy cooking with her, with recipes such as made-from-scratch "cheesy pasta" proving a favourite.
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in November 2017, Harry revealed in a BBC interview that he’d popped the question as they were "trying to roast a chicken". In fact, in 2016, Meghan told Good Housekeeping: "There is nothing as delicious (or as impressive) as a perfectly roasted chicken. If you have an Ina Garten-level roasted chicken recipe, it's a game-changer."
Meghan Markle loves to cook and entertain and, before her marriage to Prince Harry, she ran her own lifestyle blog The Tig, where she shared tips on food and wine. Carb-heavy dishes are among her favourites. "When I'm travelling, I won't miss an opportunity to try great pasta," she told Delish, adding that a typical dinner would be pasta with courgette, lots of Parmesan and a glass of wine.
Meghan Markle doesn't just enjoy eating pasta, either – she loves making her own and she has some tips and tricks to get it perfect every time. First, always make your sauce: "cooked pasta can’t wait for sauce," she says, "but sauce can wait for pasta". Next, use pasta water to make your sauce deliciously silky and cook fresh pasta for no longer than seven minutes.
Darren McGrady told MarieClaire.com: “The Queen loves to eat any food from the estate – so game birds, pheasants, grouse, partridge – she loves those to be on the menu.” The Boxing Day hunt on the royal Sandringham estate in Norfolk remains an annual tradition to this day.
Nothing goes to waste in the royal household and the family are more than happy to dine on leftovers. Prince Charles is particularly against wasting food, according to former royal chef Carolyn Robb. She told Racked: “They were always very thrifty and economical. If we made roasted lamb and there was leftovers, we’d probably go and make shepherd’s pie the next night.”
Darren McGrady told People he would often make British classics for Princes William and Harry when they were growing up, including cottage pie, fish cakes, jam roly-poly and sticky toffee pudding. But the princes were once so keen for a change that they forged a note from their nanny, saying they were allowed fast-food pizza instead. Unfortunately for them, their “juvenile handwriting gave their identity away”.
In 2018 Prince William revealed that he is partial to chicken chain Nando's, having been introduced to the restaurant by one of his police protection officers. On meeting the chain's co-founder he told him: "It's very good". Princes William and Harry also loved visiting McDonald's as kids.
Princess Diana asked her chefs to take red meat and carbohydrates off the menu, according to chef Darren McGrady. Speaking to the MailOnline, he claimed light choices such as stuffed peppers and poached chicken were health-conscious Diana's favourite. McGrady said: "'She'd tell me: 'You take care of the fats, I'll take care of the carbs at the gym'."
The Queen has attended hundreds of indulgent banquets over the years but when she’s eating privately, she likes to keep things a little healthier. Darren McGrady told RecipesPlus that she shuns starchy pasta, rice and potatoes in favour of lighter options, such as grilled chicken or fish, wherever she can.
Afternoon tea is a staple of the royal diet, with the Queen sitting down to one every day without fail. According to Darren McGrady and The Telegraph, the tea consists of dainty, crustless sandwiches, sweet treats and scones. The light fruit scones are made to a classic recipe featuring buttermilk and packed with sultanas. McGrady even reveals that the Queen would often crumble them up and share them with her corgis.
The Queen’s beloved corgis were also incredibly well fed. They even had their own royal menu which rotated between beef, chicken, lamb and rabbit. Darren McGrady told Hello! Online: "It would be chosen and sent to us in the kitchen every month by Mrs Fennick, who took care of all the dogs at Sandringham."
Gaelic steak is one of the Queen’s favourite meals, according to Darren McGrady who spoke to HELLO! Online. His recipe consists of a beef or venison fillet in a whiskey and mushroom cream sauce. The magic ingredient was a quarter teaspoon of Marmite.
Things are very organised at the royal palaces. Darren McGrady explained to MarieClaire.com: “At Buckingham Palace, we'd do a menu book that we'd send up to the Queen and she could choose the dishes she wanted. The book would come back to the kitchen and we'd prepare them. The Queen's menus are done three or more days ahead and she sticks with them religiously.”
Whenever her son Prince Andrew is visiting, the Queen ensures his favourite sweet treat is on the menu. According to Darren McGrady and HELLO! Online, it's crème brûlée with Sandringham oranges.
In an interview with CNN, Darren McGrady confirmed that the Queen's preferred strong drink is a gin and Dubonnet – one part gin and two parts Dubonnet. He also said that Her Majesty is partial to a German sweet wine with dinner, though he keenly stressed that this is not a nightly occurrence.
It's often reported that the royals avoid shellfish during tours or events, in the hope of dodging a bout of food poisoning. However, Darren McGrady debunked the myth on Twitter, sharing a royal menu beginning with a lobster soufflé. The Duchess of Cambridge was also spotted eating oysters during a visit to Canada's Prince Edward Island and Prince William has revealed that both himself and Kate "love sushi".
Discover more about Prince Edward Island's incredible food and drink
While many sources cite rare meat as another banned food, it seems it might be more a matter of preference. Chef Darren McGrady has revealed that the Queen herself likes her meat a little more well done.
The royal family stay away from garlic to ensure that their breath stays fresh. Former chef Carolyn Robb told Racked the pungent ingredient was banned since "they obviously did a lot of public engagements and were in close proximity to people."
According to the BBC and etiquette experts Debrett's, the cardinal rule when dining with the Queen is to do as she does. Guests should take their seats when Her Majesty does and begin eating when she does too. It's also customary for the Queen to start a conversation with the person on her right before the person on her left.
The Canadian staple of poutine – fries topped with cheese curds and hot gravy – is a favourite of the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan discovered the comforting dish while filming Suits in Toronto, according to Delish. "It's got to squeak when you bite into it...that's how you know you've got the right kind," she told the publication.
Now check out the royal family's Christmas feast through the ages