Queen Elizabeth could have literally any food she desires, courtesy of her royal chefs, but Darren McGrady, who worked at Buckingham Palace for 15 years, revealed that he never prepared pizza for Her Majesty.
McGrady said in an interview that the Queen never asked for this Italian comfort food while he was assigned to cook at Buckingham Palace. He only started preparing pizza when he moved to Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Prince Harry lived with Princess Diana.
The chef worked for the Wales household the last four years of his tenure. He said that he made pizza "all the time" for Prince William, who always asked for his favorite chicken tikka masala pizza.
In 2019, Prince William's wife, Kate Middleton, apparently confirmed that she never saw Queen Elizabeth having a slice of pizza. In one royal engagement, a child asked the Duchess of Cambridge if Her Majesty liked this staple and Kate replied that she didn't actually know and would ask the Queen the next time they see each other. But like her husband, Kate is a pizza lover and loves the ones with bacon or meat toppings.
What Queen Elizabeth really enjoys is food that has been hunted or picked from one of her estates. McGrady revealed that the monarch likes eating salmon from the rivers of Balmoral or venison from her Sandringham estate. She also enjoys desserts with fresh berries plucked from her gardens. The Queen also loves potted shrimp served on toast with a dash of butter.
Garlic is apparently a banned ingredient for the Queen, since she's talking to people all the time. She's also not a fan of starchy food. McGrady said that cooking at Buckingham Palace isn't like cooking at a five-star hotel. At a hotel, the chefs can introduce ingredients to make the dishes enticing for different tastes, but at Buckingham Palace, the menu has to follow the Queen's preference, so if there's one ingredient she doesn't like, the chefs must abide.
McGrady said that Queen Elizabeth is not a foodie so her dietary requirements are simple. Prince Philip, on the other hand, loves food and can talk about food all day, he said.
In his time serving for the royals, McGrady was fortunate not to have the meals he prepared sent back to the kitchen. The royal chef also said that Queen Elizabeth rarely pops in to the kitchen, especially at Buckingham Palace since it's pretty far from her office and private rooms.
