A menu fit for a Queen

The lives of the Royal family are eternally enthralling. They lead such a different life to us plebs, and one would think that they eat differently too. Prince Phillip probably doesn't sit down to a cup of instant coffee and some cornflakes in the morning, and Liz probably doesn't have turkey dinosaurs and baked beans for dinner. But now we have some answers to these questions after the former chef to the Royal Household has pulled back the curtain on what he's served up during 15 years in the job.

Darren McGrady has spent nearly two decades working as the Queen's chef, accompanying her on two royal tours of Australia. He also cooked for five American Presidents, Ford, Reagan, Bush Snr, Clinton, and Bush Jnr, all during their state visits. McGrady also worked for other members of the royal family, including Princess Diana, and her sons William and Harry at Kensington Palace. He was cooking for Diana on the night of her death in 1997, and already had her dinner ready and waiting for her return. All this and more is available for all to read in his new book, "Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen". So let's get down to it.

Throughout the day, the Queen typically eats four meals, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. And all four feature small portions.

Breakfast;

"A simple cup of tea and biscuits, followed by a bowl of cereal." The exact cereal is unknown, but I rather hope she likes coco-pops and drinks the milk from the bowl in a loud slurping manner. However, we do know that the Queen likes to keep her cereal in Tupperware to help keep it fresh. Pretty sensible stuff.

Lunch;

"Grilled fish with wilted spinach or courgettes." Although, according to McGrady, she is also partial to a simple grilled chicken with salad. A low carb option. Interestingly the Queen isn't a big one for carbs and shuns potatoes, pasta and rice at the table helping her stay in shape.

A simple dish, but I wonder how she gets around the fishy breath predicament?

A simple dish, but I wonder how she gets around the fishy breath predicament?

Afternoon Tea;

The standard affair, and with strawberries when in-season. The Queen is a big one for eating produce when in season, which is quite sensible really. She is tremendously partial to homegrown strawberries from Balmoral, which I should think are well tended to. However what isn't sensible is the way she constructs her scones, which is jam first, and that's all wrong. I doubt she favours my method of creating a monstrosity of a sandwich from the scone and shoving it in her face in one go. Such class.

Left; yes. Right; no.

Left; yes. Right; no.

Dinner;

A varying affair with several dishes being common-place, and many popular ingredients being cycled through to keep the menu fluid. Each day the Queen is presented with a menu featuring two options for each course of a meal, and she chooses from that. Although, these choices are better referred to as suggestions. A case of "this is what we have in, and is fresh', equally if she wanted ham, egg and chips, you probably don't say no? When the Queen is entertaining, she eats meals 'heavy in butter and cream' but when eating alone, she sticks to simple things, again following her own strict rule of no or low carbs.

What if the Queen doesn't like a dish?

Well, if you serve her something she isn't a fan of you aren't immediately relieved of your head, but the HRH does leave a message in a notebook for her staff. “She had a little book on her desk and she would just put a note in there saying ‘I don't want this again’ or something like that,” Darren explains.

And what about her favourites?

The Queen has a particular love for Morecambe Bay potted shrimp on toast. In a Q&A video, McGrady said: "They're cooked and marinated in this secret spicy butter. And then the Queen would have them with warm toast, so when you spread them on the toast, the butter melts." And that actually sounds incredible and now I want shrimp.

One of the Queen’s favourite "guilty pleasures" during McGrady’s time as chef was a Croque Monsieur sandwich, with melted Gruyère, ham and whipped eggs, he said. Anyone else getting a rumbly tummy?

Fresh fish is a popular item on the menu in the Royal Household, one of Philip's favourites is apparently salmon coulibiac. "There was always a lot of salmon to eat when the royals were in residence at Balmoral because they went fishing frequently."

Check out Binging with Babish for a brilliant Croque Monsieur recipe.

Check out Binging with Babish for a brilliant Croque Monsieur recipe.

What about dessert and sweet dishes?

"She is absolutely a chocoholic," McGrady told Hello! magazine in 2016. "Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie, a layered chocolate pie with white and dark chocolate and chocolate shavings." And now I'm drooling.

That looks so, so, so rich!

That looks so, so, so rich!

And to drink Ma'am?

Well, Liz is partial to a Gin and Dubonnet, one part gin, two parts Dubonnet, a sweet, wine-based aperitif. With meals, the Queen will enjoy a sweet German wine.

So there you have it. The Queen's menu. What do you fancy off it? Do you share any royal eating or drinking habits?