What the Queen really eats and other royal food favourites (2023)

What the royals really eat 

They have access to the best chefs in the world and live a life of luxury and privilege. But the royal family enjoy far more than caviar and Champagne. Read on to discover the Duchess of Cambridge's home-cooking habits, Princes William and Harry’s favourite fast food, and the top-notch meals that were served to the Queen’s beloved corgis.

The Queen prefers dark chocolate

We all like a treatnow 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.”

Mangoes are a family favourite

For something healthier, mangoes are the Queen's snack of choice. Former Buckingham Palace chef John Higgins toldtheNational 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 eats a strictly organic diet

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 theDaily 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.

Prince Charles is reportedly very fussy about his eggs

The royal chefs forage for wild mushrooms 

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall enjoys raw peas

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,” shetold 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."

The Queen loves Kate’s homemade chutney

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.

Kate and William love a curry

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.

Victoria Sponge is a garden party favourite

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 astaple. 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.

Prince George enjoys high-end school dinners

Unlike generations of other school children, Prince George doesn’t have to put up with squashed sandwicheson his lunch break.The sample menuslisted on the website of Thomas'sBattersea school, which he usually attends, include salmon wellington, chickpea and apricot tagine, and freshly prepared chicken katsu.

Kate can't resist sticky toffee pudding

Sticky toffee pudding from Berkshire pub the Old Boot Inn is Kate Middleton's preferred dessert, according to People. The pub, andespeciallythe "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".

Princess Charlotte has a sophisticated palate

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.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle love to cook roast chicken

Meghan Markle enjoys pasta with parmesan

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 Parmesanand a glass of wine.

Meghan Markle has some hacks for great pasta

Meghan Markle doesn't just enjoy eating pasta, either – she loves making her ownand 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.

The royals hunt game on their estates

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.

Leftovers don’t go to waste

Nothing goes to waste in the royal household and the family are more than happy to dine onleftovers. Prince Charles is particularly against wasting food, according to former royal chef Carolyn Robb. ShetoldRacked: “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.”

The princes tried to swap the chef's dishes for fast food

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. Butthe princeswere once so keen for a change that they forged a note from their nanny, sayingthey were allowed fast-food pizza instead. Unfortunately for them, their “juvenile handwriting gave their identity away”.

Prince William likes chicken chain Nando's

In 2018 Prince William revealed that he is partial to chicken chain Nando's, having been introduced to the restaurantby 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 opted for healthier options

Princess Diana asked her chefs to take red meat and carbohydrates off the menu, according to chef Darren McGrady. Speaking tothe MailOnline, he claimedlight 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 avoids pasta, rice and potatoes

The Queen has attended hundreds of indulgent banquets over the yearsbut 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.

The Queen takes afternoon tea every day

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 upand share them with her corgis.

The dogs enjoyed freshly cooked meat

The Queen’s beloved corgis werealso incredibly well fed. They even had their own royal menu which rotated between beef, chicken, lamb and rabbit. Darren McGrady toldHello! 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."

The Queen loves steak with a Marmite marinade

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 wasa quarter teaspoon of Marmite.

Menus are ordered three days in advance

Things are veryorganised at the royal palaces. Darren McGrady explainedto 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.”

Prince Andrew loves crème brûlée

Whenever her son Prince Andrew isvisiting, the Queenensures his favourite sweet treat ison the menu.According to Darren McGrady andHELLO! Online, it's crème brûlée with Sandringham oranges.

The Queen has a couple of favoured tipples

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 Majestyis partial to a German sweet wine with dinner, though he keenly stressedthat this is not a nightly occurrence.

It’s a myth that the royals never eat shellfish

Steak must be well done

While many sources cite rare meat as another banned food, it seems it might be more a matter of preference. Chef Darren McGradyhas revealed that the Queen herself likes her meat a little more well done.

Garlic is banned

The royal family stay away from garlic to ensure that their breath stays fresh. Former chef Carolyn Robb told Rackedthe pungent ingredient was banned since "they obviously did a lot of public engagements and were in close proximity to people."

Everyone must do as the Queen does

Poutine is one of Meghan's favourite foods