Turkey and Kidneys: What the Royal Family Eats on Christmas Day
Millions of people around the world have holiday traditions that they do each year. It could be what they eat, something they watch, a place they go, or just anything they always do together as a family during the festive period. Britain’s royal family is no different.
They also have their own holiday traditions. Those include gathering on Christmas Eve at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to greet well-wishers on Christmas morning as they walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church. Britain’s royal family also enjoys a feast prepared by the royal chefs.
So just what’s on the menu for their Christmas Day meals? One chef who used to work for the family and cooked those meals is revealing all that and more.
What the royals ate every Christmas
Darren McGrady was a chef at Buckingham Palace for more than a decade, cooking for Queen Elizabeth II. He was later transferred to Kensington Palace, where he worked as Princess Diana’s personal chef up until her death in 1997.
Speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins Casino, McGrady told Showbiz Cheat Sheet: “Christmas Day was very traditional for the royals. The men would come downstairs and have breakfast, then the ladies would actually have breakfast trays in their room. For the men, it was a full English breakfast — so sausage, egg, bacon, and mushrooms. When Prince Philip was there, things like kidney would be on the menu too. He loved all the offal and everything … For the ladies, it would be a much lighter breakfast, so lots of fruit.
“They would then go off to church and come back for Christmas lunch, which we’d start off with some canapés. They didn’t have a salad course, which they usually do. With this, it was straight into the roast turkey because it’s quite heavy. It was the traditional roast turkey, sometimes with chestnut stuffing. Then the traditional side dishes too — the Brussel sprouts, roast parsnips, roast potatoes and mashed potatoes, then the turkey gravy. They would also have cranberry sauce served with the dinner.”
The former royal chef added, “After that, it would be time for the Christmas pudding. The traditional Christmas pudding would be served on fire and flamed … then carried into the royal dining room by the queen’s page, usually to a round of applause. The Christmas puddings were actually made the year before, and we’d have them in the refrigerator so they would mature and soak all the flavor for Christmas.”
The army transported all the food for the family
McGrady also shared how all the food to feed the large family is transported to the Sandringham estate.
“If you’ve seen the movie Spencer, you’ll see the army deliver all the food in the boxes and hampers, which is what happened,” he said. “Several days before Christmas, we’d send in an advance team to Sandringham, who would open up the kitchen and clean it so it was spotless. They would be there for the arrival to check in all of the food — the Norfolk turkeys would come in from the local butcher, all the local fish would come in.
“When it came to the equipment and Christmas puddings, cakes, and all of that, that was packed carefully and driven up in army transportation. The soldiers would bring it all into the kitchen, so we were all prepared for it. Every year it was like a military operation, so nothing went wrong.”
McGrady explained that royal family members ate what was available that day. No special requests were taken, saying, “That goes for every meal that you ate with the queen. You’re dining with Her Majesty the monarch, so whatever she chooses, that’s what you eat. If you don’t like that, you get a McDonald’s on the way home! You wouldn’t ask for a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, lactose-free menu or anything like that. When the Queen was there, it was all very traditional.”
