The royal family’s Easter meal is fit for, well, a king.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady offered insight into what the British royals can expect to be served while celebrating the holiday on Sunday, March 31. Generally, the family gathers at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk for their Easter celebration each year. And, yes, they do eat lamb.
“We’d go straight into the main course — a traditional roast lamb with seasonal vegetables,” McGrady, 61, told OK! in a recent interview, recalling that the late Queen Elizabeth II would always choose her food first because she preferred the more well done cut of meat.
“They’d also have a compound salad served in a kidney dish attached to the plate — just some lettuce and cucumber with a little mint or some grated carrot and coriander,” he added.
The second course would consist of Windsor Cheese, which is made at the Windsor Dairy, accompanied by fruit.
“The most incredible sweet white Windsor peaches grew on the estate too in my day. We’d have to lock them away in the kitchens because everyone wanted to taste them,” McGrady continued. “The Queen always looked forward to those, but she’d have to wait until they were in season.”
Overall, he went on to say that the family is rather “boring when it comes to festivities” on the holidays.
“It was the same meal every year,” McGrady said. “They didn’t do hams or anything, just traditional turkeys. We did three turkeys for the queen and her family in the royal dining room, one for the children’s nursery and then more for the 100 or so staff, so everyone had a Christmas lunch.”
This year’s Easter celebration for the royals will be somewhat different in the wake of Princess Kate Middleton and King Charles III’s cancer diagnoses. It’s been widely speculated whether Kate, 42, and Prince William, along with their three kids — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — would skip the annual Easter service that takes place at St. George’s Chapel this year.
Kate revealed on Friday, March 22, that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy after receiving a cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
“In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,” she said in the video filmed at Windsor Castle. “The surgery was successful, however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I’m now in the early stages of that treatment.”
She went on to say that the news came as a “huge shock” for their family.
“Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too, as is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both,” Kate said. “We hope that you’ll understand that as a family, we now need some time, space, and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy, and I look forward to being back when I’m able. But for now, I must focus on making a full recovery.”
Charles, for his part, revealed his cancer diagnosis on February 5. While he’s taken a step back from public-facing duties while undergoing treatment, the king did appear in a pre-recorded speech played at the Royal Maundy service in the UK’s Worcester Cathedral on Thursday, March 28.
