Tea time might be a British institution, but The King and other members of the Royal Family do enjoy a good cup of coffee, too. In a new interview, former royal butler Grant Harrold revealed the surprising ingredient King Charles loves to put in his brew—and you probably won't be in a rush to copy it anytime soon.
Speaking to Coffee Friend, Harrold—who served Charles and Camilla from 2005 to 2011—noted that the royals "were always offered milk and sugar after the coffee was poured" as "that is the correct etiquette." However, The King "prefers to have honey instead of sugar, so he would opt for that instead."
Although pouring honey into tea is a widely accepted practice, using it in coffee might not sound very appealing. Harrold seems to have tried it out for himself, as he told the coffee retailer, "It actually isn’t too bad!”
The King has used sugar in his coffee on at least one occasion, as he was photographed adding some of the sweetener to his cup during a 2017 trip to Florence, Italy. Something tells me he wouldn't have dared to ask for honey at an Italian café—and as they say, when in Rome (or Florence).
Harrold pointed out that The King did prefer tea over coffee, following in the footsteps of his parents. "The late Queen, Prince Philip, and King Charles definitely prefer a cup of tea over coffee," the former butler said, adding that Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth "were tea lovers to the very end."
"They probably had coffee from time to time, but tea was their go-to," he continued, adding, "The only time I saw The Queen having a freshly brewed cup of coffee was after an event in the evening time.”
Last year, The Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith shared the hilarious story of how she once messed up Queen Elizabeth's tea order at an event. Instead of serving her "strong black tea," Leith ended up giving the late royal "weak lemony tea" after a rather embarrassing mixup.
As for what type of milk His Majesty prefers in his coffee or tea, Harrold shared that dairy farming enthusiast Charles probably isn't going for alternatives like almond or oat.
"The King is a huge supporter of dairy farms and is a patron of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, so he and The Queen are more likely to have your usual full-fat or semi-skimmed milk," he said.
