King Charles III is quintessentially British in the sense that he adores a traditional hearty meal. The monarch reportedly has a soft spot for wild mushroom risotto, cheesy baked eggs, perfectly cooked roast potatoes, and pheasant crumble pie.
But did you know that the royal is far more basic when it comes to his repertoire of teatime treats? According to his youngest son Prince Harry, His Majesty is a sucker for serving crackers with “shredded basil”. What a combo.
In his raw memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex fondly recalled the first time his parents met his then-girlfriend, Meghan Markle.
Harry, 38, offered an intimate glimpse inside their visit, detailing everything from the “popping fire” at Clarence House to the “surgically laid out” spread of classic afternoon sweet treats.
“We came to a round table laid with a white cloth. Beside it stood a trolley with tea: honey cake, flapjacks, sandwiches, warm crumpets, crackers with some creamy spread, shredded basil—Pa’s favorite,” Harry said.
He went on to say: “Pa sat with his back to an open window, as far as possible from the popping fire. Camilla sat across from him, her back to the fire. Meg and I sat between them, across from one another.
“I wolfed down a crumpet with Marmite; Meg had two smoked-salmon tea sandwiches. We were starving. We’d been so nervous all day that we hadn’t eaten. Pa offered her some flapjacks. She loved them.”
King Charles is a huge advocate for organic produce. Whilst Harry didn’t name the biscuit brand at the heart of Charles’s cheesy treat, we have an inkling that the royal likely reached for a packet of his very own Duchy Organic oaten biscuits.
His Majesty set up the biscuit company more than 30 years ago and since its exclusive partnership with Waitrose in 2010, it has generated a whopping £30 million for The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF).
The PWCF supports charitable causes across the UK including The Prince’s Countryside Fund, which works to secure a brighter future for those who live and work in the British countryside.
King Charles isn’t the only royal with a penchant for wolfing down cheese. According to The Lady Magazine, Charles’s sister Princess Anne has a soft spot for “strong cheese.”
In their article titled ‘Christmas with Princess Anne,” the publication explained how the ideal Christmas for Anne involves “sitting at her long kitchen table munching on a piece of string cheese (the smellier the better) or curled up on a sofa in her conservatory reading a book”. Pure bliss!
