Queen Elizabeth has also been seen at Quaglinos in St James's, which has welcomed in many a royal, from Princess Margaret to Princess Di to Prince Harry. The luxe restaurant and bar claims not only was The Queen the first monarch to dine out - ever - but her first restaurant - also ever - was Quaglinos.
They might have their own chefs at home, but even the royals like to go out to eat sometimes. Many members of the Royal Family are based in London, and eagle-eyed diners might spot them enjoying a bite to eat at one of the capital's finest restaurants – if you know where to look.
Does the Queen ever cook for herself? McGrady says that while Prince Philip was an “amazing chef” and regularly enjoyed cooking on the grill and having family BBQs on the Balmoral estate, and the younger royals like William, Kate, Meghan and Harry, all enjoy cooking, the Queen herself stays out of the kitchen.
But one thing we might not expect the Queen to own is a McDonald's. Spoiler alert: she does. Located on the edge of Oxfordshire, the restaurant is a mere one and a half hour drive from Central London. With leather sofas and table service, it's fit for a Queen.
As the monarch of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, you'd expect the Queen's eating habits to be pretty strict, with numerous personal chefs who wine and dine her during every hour of the day. However, it turns out that Queen Elizabeth is just like everyone else and enjoys a takeaway now and again.
“The menus at Buckingham Palace are very traditional French, which wouldn't lean towards having pizza on it,” he told Insider. “Her Majesty's Victorian upbringing dictates that the only thing you would pick up and eat with your fingers is afternoon tea.”
Queen Elizabeth was a ruler, a royal, and, one of the most famous women in the entire world, but she was also a Brit to the core, evidenced by her lifelong love of fish and chips.
O'Grady spoke about how Queen Elizabeth was never a fan of McDonald's or KFC but did in fact have a hankering for one kind of fast food in particular. The food? Hamburgers. Yes, Her Majesty was similar to the majority of the population in the sense that she loved a hamburger just as much as the next person.
She then would enjoy her main breakfast in her private dining room in Buckingham Palace; cereal, yoghurt, toast and marmalade are said to be the late mother-of-four's favourites.
Today, there are more than 1,270 McDonald's locations across the U.K., and believe it or not one of them was technically owned by Queen Elizabeth II herself – specifically, the McDonald's located in the Banbury Gateway Shopping Park in Oxfordshire.
In fact, she even does her own dishes, according to one royal source. Speaking to The Telegraph, royal expert and author Harry Mount recalled a former royal courtier once told him: "I was once at a shooting lunch. At the end of lunch, I heard someone say, 'I'll do the washing-up'.
The Queen preferred grilled fish or chicken, served simply with vegetables. She generally skipped starches like potatoes, grains, or rice during her evening meal.
McGrady also shared that pasta is forbidden (albeit only at dinner time) by Her Majesty too, as she's not a fan of carbs in the evening. "When she dines on her own she's very disciplined. No starch is the rule. No potatoes, rice or pasta for dinner.
Naturally, the royals dress up more than the average family. Most dinners are formal affairs, meaning that women wear dresses and stockings, and men wear trousers and coats. Other guidelines, like wearing modest necklines, apply as well.
During the first course of the royal meal, the monarch converses with the person to their right. The person on their left is then pulled into conversation with the monarch during the second course.
Darren, who also worked at Kensington Palace for four years, said of the Queen's savoury choices: "For a main course she loved game, things like Gaelic steak, fillet steak with a mushroom whisky sauce, especially if we did it with venison. The former royal chef revealed the Queen loves chocolate!
Reports are conflicting, but her former staff have cited her partiality to Darjeeling tea, as well as Assam and Earl Grey, with no sugar. If you're wondering what cereal The Queen ate, her choice was apparently Kellogg's Special K, although she also dabbled with Quaker Oats and Weetabix.
The most powerful members of the Queen's royal household don't necessarily have the most senior job titles. Lady Susan Hussey, 81, is one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, a role held by aristocrat women who act as personal assistants to the monarch.
However, the former royal chef said that although the Queen never ate pizza, other Royals were impartial to a good slice. “I didn't start cooking pizza until I moved across to Kensington palace,” Mr McGrady said. “I [made] pizza all the time for William.
Tuna mayonnaise sandwiches
A former royal chef recently claimed the Queen's favourite sandwich was tuna mayonnaise. He said that the sandwich always had to be generously buttered and topped with thin slices of cucumber, plus a sprinkle of black pepper on top.
Like the majority of us, Her Majesty can sometimes get the craving for fast food, but you won't catch her in McDonald's or Burger King. In fact, the monarch tends to avoid those types of meals as a rule but there was one thing she is said to enjoy.
While the latter would hardly be scorned at a special occasion, the Queen is normally fond of foods such as Cornflakes, sausages, Dover sole with vegetables, eggs, and sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Queen Elizabeth has many habits and particular fancies, just like her culinary desires.
THE QUEEN is said to be a "chocoholic" so it's no surprise to learn that throughout the day, she's eating a variety of chocolate snacks. Queen Elizabeth has had the honour of eating some of the world's most luxurious and expensive foods.
It's just a jam sandwich — bread, a bit of butter, and jam, cut into small circles (or similar shapes) for serving. These simple treats were a lifetime favorite of the queen's, with Chef McGrady stating that she enjoyed one every single day since she was five years old.