King Charles’ bizarre breakfast ‘instruction’ that baffled royal chef

King Charles is known for being an especially picky eater, known for being fussy about his eggs, rarely eating lunch, and for his rather strange rules during state banquets. In fact, sometimes he has been so specific that he has confused his own staff!

Darren McGrady, a former royal chef, often speaks about his experiences working with the family, from the cakes he cooked for the late Queen, to the breakfast that Princess Diana began to eat every day after a single trip. 

Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary, Secrets of the Royal Kitchen, he recounted his experience of serving the King, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, his breakfast.

Darren explained that King Charles enjoys fruit picked from his garden at home in Highgrove, but that plums are his favourite, and that he specifically takes two alongside his breakfast.

“The instruction was to put two plums and a little juice into the bowl, and send it in to him for breakfast,” the royal chef explained. “I’d send in two plums and he would take one so it would come back out after breakfast, and I’d put the other plum back into the jar and save it.”

After noticing that there was always only one left, Darren decided to make a small change. “One morning I thought, ‘Okay he only eats one for breakfast, so I only put one plum into the bowl and sent it out into the dining room,” he shared.

However, things didn’t go as planned! “The attending (waiter) came through and said, ‘Can His Royal Highness have two please?’ So I had to keep sending two in every morning,” the royal chef laughed.

Plums are a healthy fruit for breakfast

According to BANT-registered nutritionist Charlotte Faure Green, the King’s choice of breakfast food is a brilliant one. “They’re a good source of vitamin C, which supports the immune system and skin health,” she told us at HELLO!, “and they’re rich in polyphenols that are great for gut and heart health.

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On why they’re specifically good to have at breakfast, she adds: “They also contain natural sorbitol, which can gently get digestion moving first thing in the morning, a welcome bonus if things feel a bit sluggish. 

“At breakfast they work really well because they give a light lift in energy without feeling heavy, and they’re especially good alongside something like Greek yoghurt, where the protein and fats help keep blood sugar steady rather than it all hitting at once,” she concludes.