As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even more so, we assume, when there’s a country to be run. King Charles’ diet has always focussed on organic produce and animal welfare, avoiding meat and fish two days a week as well as opting for a plant-based diet one day a week, and his morning meal is no different.
From Highgrove plums to a cheesy baked dish and a vast selection of honey options when travelling, we’ve got all the details on how to start your day off like the King, though you may have to make your own way to the kitchen before donning a crown…
Fresh produce
King Charles’ preference for organic produce is well documented, with Queen Camilla sharing his love of a simple snack grabbed straight from the garden. But when it comes to the King’s morning portion of his five-a-day, it seems his tastes take a turn for the particular. In Channel 5’s Secrets of the Royal Kitchen, royal chef Darren McGrady recalled that the monarch likes a little choice, even when the produce is picked directly from the gardens at Highgrove. Plums are a favourite but the serving instructions certainly fit the standards of a king.
“The instruction was to put two plums and a little juice into the bowl, and send it in to him for breakfast,” Darren 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 the King always left one over, Darren decided to cut his serving in half. “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.” His change didn’t go unnoticed: “The attending (waiter) came through and said, ‘Can His Royal Highness have two please?’ So I had to keep sending two in every morning,” Darren laughed.
Home comforts
Sometimes it’s the simplest dishes that bring the most comfort, and being King doesn’t mean that the call of a warm, cheesy breakfast goes silent. In fact, Clarence House has shared that one of King Charles’ favourite dishes is a rather straightforward affair, proving that no matter what gold-standard meals might be on offer, a grounding meal is always a perfect choice.
Known as cheesy baked eggs, the Clarence House Instagram account shared the – rather easy – recipe to success, using ingredients like spinach, double cream and several strong cheese suggestions like Tunworth and Golden Cenarth. Of course, an added note at the bottom encourages royal chefs-in-the-making to search for organic ingredients where possible.
On the move
It’s not just at home that King Charles takes a particular interest in his morning meal: he’s also got a specific assortment of food items that travel alongside the monarch when he’s away from home. His fondness for bees is well-documented, including several hives across the royal estates and honey is a primary focus of his breakfast when away from home.
Queen Elizabeth II’s chef, Graham Newbould, explained that when the King travels he has a set of requests for a breakfast box that accompanies him on his journey. The box features six varieties of honey and usually includes dried fruit and muesli. To make up his royal breakfast, the King adds milk or yoghurt for a well-balanced and sweet-tasting start to the morning.
© Getty ImagesForbidden ingredients
In the days of Henry VIII, a savoury banquet would surely have been a welcome sight – even first thing in the morning. But one delicacy has found declining favour over the years and King Charles has been a strong voice against its unethical production.
Foie gras certainly won’t be gracing the monarch’s breakfast table as royal chefs are ordered not to purchase or serve the duck and goose liver pate, due to the practice of ‘gavage’, or force-feeding, animals to enlarge their livers up to ten times their normal size. For a King vocal in his defence of animal rights, foie gras is clearly a big no-no.
© Getty ImagesCreatures of habit
King Charles shares his particular habits with his late mother Queen Elizabeth. She also preferred to keep things simple, opting for the same breakfast almost every day according to former royal chef Darren. He previously disclosed her morning meal consisted of Kellogg’s cereal “from a plastic container, which she’d serve herself” as well as some Darjeeling tea.
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