Cooking for the Queen: The unique demands of a royal palate

In this story: Sticky toffee pudding and gin and tonic Other royals eat what they get RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Paul Sussman, CNN.com writer

Cooking for a British monarch has never been an easy job, as chef Richard Roose discovered to his cost in 1532.

Roose, head cook to the Bishop of Rochester, had prepared a feast for the visiting King Henry VIII.

ALSO The royal menu

Unfortunately for him his food violently disagreed with the royal duodenum, as a result of which he was thrown into jail and, on April 15, in front of a large crowd of cheering onlookers, boiled alive in London's Smithfield market.

Today the task of catering for Britain's head of state isn't quite so fraught with peril. It does, nonetheless, have its own unique pitfalls.

The point appeared to be backed up this week when an Italian paper, Il Messagero, reported that Queen Elizabeth II, who will be on a state visit to Italy from October 16 to 19, has sent orders that nothing with garlic in it is to be included on her menu.

The kitchens of Rome's Quirinale Palace, where the Queen will be staying for two nights, have also allegedly been informed that Her Majesty will not tolerate "long pastas" such as spaghetti, "messy" tomato sauces or blackberries and raspberries.

The claims have been strenuously denied by the British Embassy in Rome, whose spokeswoman, Maurizia Garzia, described them as "pure speculation" and "recycled gossip."

Queen Elizabeth: 'No problem with garlic'

Royal experts too are unconvinced by the reports. Judy Wade, a royal expert and close friend of The Duchess of York, says: "All this garlic stuff is complete and utter rubbish. It's true that the Queen herself tries to steer clear of it because she's afraid of offending people.

"She has no problem with other people eating garlic, though. Her attitude is: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'"

Whatever the truth of the story, there is no doubt that the Queen does have distinct preferences when it comes to food and drink, and hosts are expected to respect those preferences.

"The royal family tend to like simple fare," says Felicity Murdo-Smith, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace. "We would never reveal their specific likes and dislikes, not least because if we said the Queen was particularly fond of something she'd get served it wherever she went.

"One thing she never eats, however, are raw shellfish. She needs to be on top form all the time, and avoids anything that might, how shall I put it, interfere with that."

Ivor Spencer, Britain's foremost Toastmaster and Master of Ceremonies, has officiated at over 1,000 royal events, and knows the Queen's tastes better than most.

"She likes simple, uncomplicated food, with no rich or spicy sauces," he says. "For puddings she likes traditional, old-fashioned things, like spotted dick (suet roll with currents), sticky toffee pudding and deep apple pie."

According to Spencer, the Queen would be sent a choice of three menus prior to any banquet, from which she would pick the one most to her liking, usually the simplest.

She also prefers small portions, unlike her predecessor and namesake Elizabeth I, who would use a peacock feather to make herself vomit between courses so as to create space for more food.

"In all my years officiating at royal events," says Spencer, "I have never seen anyone in the royal family eat a lot."

In terms of drink, the Queen tends to stick to a glass or two of wine, and mineral water, of which she will only drink Malvern Water (she always takes a supply of it with her whenever she travels)

Other royal idiosyncrasies, according to Wade, include always travelling with her own rich fruit cake, and never going anywhere without her own feather pillows, hot water bottle, box of homeopathic remedies and kettle.

Compared with Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth is clearly not especially demanding in her gastronomic expectations.

She is, nonetheless, a lot fussier than other European monarchs. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, for instance, rarely makes food requests when travelling abroad.

"She tends to keep her likes and dislikes to herself," says Hans Kamp, of the Royal Netherlands Court, "Although I honestly can't think of any type of food she doesn't like. We generally leave it to the country she is visiting to decide what food they are going to serve."

Likewise King Harald of Norway. "Basically they eat what they get," said a spokesman from the Norwegian embassy in London.

Not that Britain's monarch would ever boil anyone alive for serving her garlic. She is, according to Spencer, invariably polite about the food she is eating, even when she doesn't like it.

Buckingham Palace
King Harald of Norway
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

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