Queen Elizabeth reportedly has a very healthy diet, and it’s no wonder since she just celebrated her 96th birthday. That’s what Darren McGrady, one of her personal chefs revealed in his book, Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen as well as on his YouTube channel, and what many articles have reported about her eating habits. While the oldest living monarch got some publicity for a doctor’s order to cut out her nightly cocktail, she still maintains a very healthy diet—with a few treats. And what she likes to eat every day hasn’t changed much in 60 years, reports McGrady.
Here’s a look at the foods she reportedly eats every day to maintain her stamina and health into her 70th year as queen. And don’t worry if you can’t keep up such a strict regimen; as McGrady reports at any given time while he worked for her, the queen had about 20 chefs working for her. They presented her with a menu from which to choose her daily menu. Ah, it’s good to be the Queen!
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After bathing and dressing, the queen eats her official breakfast which consists of cold cereal, her favorite is rumored to be Special K. Sometimes toast and marmalade is also on the table. Eggs are a rarity.
Lunch is simple and follows a high-protein, low-carb pattern. McGrady told The Telegraph that grilled Dover sole or Scottish salmon served with spinach and zucchini is one of her favorites. She is also known to enjoy a simple salad with grilled chicken. “When she dines on her own, she’s very disciplined,” McGrady said according to a piece in Bustle, “No starch is the rule.”
Afternoon tea is a must, according to a Cosmopolitan piece. Royal biographer, Katie Nicholl, is quoted as saying that cucumber sandwiches, fruit cake, and more Earl Grey tea are on the menu.
McGrady shares the in-depth, but simple, cucumber sandwich the Queen favors on his YouTube channel. It starts with white bread that is slathered with cream cheese with a touch of fresh spearmint and is then laid with very thinly shaved cucumber. The crusts are then cut off and the sandwich is cut into two-bite portions. He also demos the tomato sandwiches and the “Jam Pennies” the Queen used to eat as a child. These dainty little sandwiches are simple strawberry jam, made in the castle kitchens with fresh Scottish strawberries of course, and butter cut into little circles that are the size of the old English penny.
According to the Daily Mail, McGrady said that the queen has a “no starch” rule for dinner when she is dining alone. More grilled or poached fish is on the menu with salad and vegetables. “That’s it. That’s all she has,” Grady said to CNN. “She’s very disciplined like that. She could have anything she wanted, but it is that discipline that keeps her so well and so healthy.”
Sometimes dessert is on the menu. While fresh fruit from her gardens is often served, think strawberries from Balmoral Castle or fresh peaches from Windsor Castle greenhouses, Grady confides to CNN that Queen is a little bit of a chocoholic. But, he says, “It has to be the dark chocolate, the darker the better. She wasn’t keen on milk chocolate or white chocolate.” She occasionally indulges in a homemade chocolate dessert as well. Here’s the actual recipe for her favorite chocolate biscuit cake.
One thing that you won’t find on the Queen’s plate is garlic. “The Queen doesn’t like garlic,” says McGrady on his YouTube channel. She also prefers her beef well done, so steak tartar would never be on the menu either. “Whenever we were doing a roast beef, she’d always have the end slices,” says Grady.
And for those of you looking to unearth a juicy secret about the Queen and fast food, sorry, she never ordered fast food. “When you’ve got 20 chefs in the kitchen, why would you?” remarks Grady. “You just call down to the kitchen and order whatever food you want.”
Plus, don’t miss This Is Kate Middleton’s Exact Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
