Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Courtney Pochin

'I ate like the Queen for a day - it cost a fortune and my taste buds were underwhelmed'

When it comes to the Queen, there are so many interesting things to learn and discover - from her royal responsibilities to her family life and the protocols she follows each day.

And while all of this is sure to be fascinating, I have to admit, the one thing I've always been curious to know more about is the food she eats at the palace.

With a team of incredibly talented chefs on hand, you'd think the Queen would be enjoying extravagant meals each night, right?

But it turns out that when she's not at a banquet and just dining alone, her preferences are actually much more simplistic.

Darren McGrady, who was a personal chef for the monarch, has previously shared some of the items that she ate in a day, including Special K for breakfast and her love of chocolate.

Intrigued, I decided to put my taste buds to the test and see what it's like to eat like the Queen for a day - and honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed.

Dark chocolate biscuits to start the day (Courtney Pochin)

Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here.

According to McGrady, the Queen starts her day at 7:30am with a cup of Earl Grey tea - a splash of milk but no sugar - and a few dark chocolate biscuits.

Her biscuits of choice are said to be Chocolate Olivers by Huntley & Palmers - which cost me a whopping £12.99 for a tin.

These are followed by a bowl of Special K at 8:30am, which Her Majesty is said to like to store in Tupperware containers to keep it as fresh as possible.

Breakfast is usually my favourite meal of the day, but these options didn't hit the mark for me. Dark chocolate really isn't my thing and I find Earl Grey a bit too flowery. I'm much more of a strong English Breakfast tea kinda gal - with milk and two sugars.

The cereal was a bit more my speed, but just really bland - I wasn't sure which variety of Special K the Queen preferred, so played it safe and went for the original, but the red berry version would have been better.

A bowl of Special K for breakfast (Courtney Pochin)

Lunch for the Queen doesn't get served until 1pm and there are no snacks in-between, so I was feeling very hungry by this point.

Her Majesty is said to opt for either grilled fish and vegetables, or chicken and salad for lunch - foregoing starch when she eats alone.

I'm not a big fan of fish and didn't want to stink my whole apartment out, so I prepared grilled chicken and salad. I added a honey, chilli and soy sauce marinade to the chicken and a balsamic glaze to my salad.

Not sure if these extra flavours would get the royal stamp of approval, but they made the meal more enjoyable for me.

After a lack of mid-morning snacks, I didn't have to wait very long for more food as there was still afternoon tea to be had next.

Chicken and salad for lunch (Courtney Pochin)
I didn't do the chocolate biscuit cake justice (Courtney Pochin)

McGrady has previously shared Her Majesty's love of afternoon tea - including finger sandwiches, scones with jam and cream as well as a slice of her beloved chocolate biscuit cake.

This sweet treat is enjoyed by so many of the royal family, with Prince William and Kate Middleton even having some at their wedding.

Now, if you know anything about me, it's that I love cake but am terrible at baking - as my recent attempt to make the Platinum Jubilee Pudding has shown.

I decided to make the biscuit cake, it seemed straightforward enough. But, of course, I somehow managed to screw it up.

I didn't have the right sized tin, so mine came out looking less like a perfect cake and more like a pile of poop. But it tasted good and that's all that really matters.

For finger sandwiches, I prepared cucumber ones and some raspberry Jam Pennies - these all had to be cut into circular shapes, as sharp edges are apparently viewed as 'threatening' to the royal family.

To finish things off, I had some scones and jam and some more tea - Assam this time instead.

I didn't actually eat the scones, as several publications have claimed the Queen often crumbles them up to give to her pet Corgis. I'm not sure if this is 100% true, but I was feeling pretty full anyway so gave them a miss.

Cheers (Courtney Pochin)

Dinner was a similar meal to lunch, with meat and veg but no starch. I went for beef fillet and some greens.

I rarely buy steak for myself, so this felt like a bit of a special treat and I can see why the Queen would want to dine like this, however, I was severely missing the chips I'd have normally eaten this with.

For pudding, it was a bowl of fresh strawberries and raspberries, as the Queen is said to enjoy what's in season.

All of this was washed down with a glass of prosecco - Her Majesty reportedly drinks dry champagne in the evening, but as I'm not made of money, I went for the cheaper option.

The menu for the day cost me a small fortune, with my Tesco shop coming in at a total of £32.95 for all the ingredients. I certainly couldn't afford to eat like this regularly and I'm not sure it was even worth it - my taste buds weren't overly wowed.

Highlights of the day included lunch, which was much healthier than my regular lunchbox fare and afternoon tea, which I would happily eat more often.

But other than that, I found the meals a bit uninspiring and not really fit for a Queen - but perhaps that has more to do with my cooking skills than anything else.

Would you try eating like the Queen for a day? Let us know in the comments below.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.