An era of splendour has come to an end with the unfortunate loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As she prepared to go for the heavenly abode, the Queen's followers relived the nostalgia of her calming presence by remembering the inspirational facts of her life. The Queen was economical and elegant in her culinary selections, but there were a few ingredients she despised.
Her Majesty's diet has long been an inspiration to many. She ate not-so-flashy meals and kept a close eye on what she ate. Her day began with a simple breakfast of toast and marmalade, followed by a small lunch of proteins and vegetables, which she typically repeated for dinner. Tea was an afternoon treat that she enjoyed with tea cakes and scones.
Insights On Her Diet
Chef Darren McGrady was the Queen's personal chef for 15 years and discusses her eating habits, likes and dislikes, and the items she actually despised in his book. He claims that Queen Elizabeth II disliked too many onions in her meals and that garlic was a no-no. He mentioned in one of his interviews how garlic was banned from Buckingham Palace. She was also not very adventurous with rare meats, sticking to the staples.
According to one of the interesting interviews conducted by John Higgins, another Royal Chef, and published in The National Post, "The Queen is a lovely lady, and the royal family are lovely people, but they're missing out on garlic because, I suppose, you don't cook with garlic at Buckingham Palace in case you get the royal burp." According to the cook, the Queen ate four meals a day, albeit in modest portions. He revealed in a series of YouTube Q&A sessions that when he was her personal chef between 1982 and 1993, the royal would eat breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. According to royal biographer Katie Nicholl, breakfast was kept very simple. "Breakfast usually starts with a simple cup of tea and a few cookies, then a bowl of cereal," Katie previously stated.
Lunch was healthier, according to McGrady, and often consisted of grilled fish with wilted spinach or courgettes. He further stated that the Queen enjoyed grilled chicken with salad. Her Majesty's favourite meal was afternoon tea, which included sandwiches and scones. The royal cook stated that the Queen would enjoy scones with jam and clotted cream for afternoon tea in the late afternoon. "No matter where she went in the globe, she always had afternoon tea,” he said. We were on the Royal Yacht after travelling to Australia. It was five o'clock in the morning, but five o'clock in the afternoon for the Queen, so my first chore was to make scones."
Dinner for the Queen would vary, but the chef previously stated that meals would consist of a combination of meat or fish and vegetables. McGrady stated that she enjoyed a Gaelic steak as well as a fillet steak with a mushroom and whisky sauce. There was a crew of 20 cooks in the kitchen when McGrady was working for the Queen.