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Do royals cook for themselves? Kate Middleton, the Queen and more palace kitchen secrets

A look inside the royal kitchens…

royals cook
Sophie Hamilton
Parenting Editor
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Oh, what it must be like to live in Buckingham Palace, where a team of royal chefs cater to your every foodie need. Nutella pancakes at dawn? Yes, mam! Sushi at 10pm? Coming up.

We regular folk can only dream of having our own personal cooks, but for many royals, it's a way of life. What we want to know, however, is do any members of the royal ever cook for themselves? Who's a dab hand in the kitchen and who can't boil an egg?

Read on to discover which royals can and can't cook…

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Does the Queen cook?

No, one does not cook very often

queen eat© Photo: Getty Images

It appears Her Majesty prefers to have her personal chefs whipping up tasty meals for her each day at the palace.

Former royal chef Darren McGrady, who worked at Buckingham Palace for 11 years followed by Kensington Palace for four, once revealed how her Majesty had a red leather-bound book of menus, written in French. "We prepared the menus three days ahead so we could get the food in," said Darren.

"The chefs would pick the menus and she would put a line through the ones she didn't want. Sometimes she'd put a line through it all and put something different, like if she was having dinner with Prince Andrew, his favourite was crème brulee with Sandringham oranges."

In one of his YouTube videos, Darren also previously said that when at Balmoral for the summer, Prince Phillip took a turn at cooking.

Darren revealed: "Prince Philip was an amazing chef. He loved to cook on the grill, he loved to cook at Balmoral. He’d teach me things and he was so knowledgeable. The Queen no, not so much."

Balmoral's housekeeper Sheena Stuart also once said on TV's Countryfile: "The Duke, he cooks, the Queen sets up the table. There are no staff that come out to serve."

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Does Meghan Markle cook?

Yes, she loves to cook

meghan markle eat© Photo: Getty Images

Prince Harry's wife Meghan is a self-confessed foodie! Prince Harry proposed while they were making a roast chicken, and one of Meghan's first solo projects, when she was still a senior working member of the royal family, was to help create a cookbook.

The Duchess joined forces with a group of women who were affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, to publish Together: Our Community Cookbook.

Meghan used to run her own blog called The Tig, where she featured her own recipes for a variety of different dishes, from pasta and salads to smoothies.

Does Kate Middleton cook?

Yes, she sure does!

kate middleton cook© Photo: Getty Images

Devoted mum-of-three Kate has spoken of her love of cooking several times – indeed, it's quite a hobby for her.

In 2012, royal correspondent Katie Nicholl told Vanity Fair of the Duchess: "In the evenings she indulges her hobby of cooking William’s favourite supper, roast chicken."

Pasta is a favourite in the Cambridge house too. People reported that during a visit to Lavender Primary School, the royal told Matthew Kleiner-Mann: "She was telling us how much her children love cooking and how they cook for her. They made cheesy pasta the other day. One stirs the flour, one puts the milk and butter in. And they make salads and stuff."

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Does Prince Charles cook?

One is not quite sure

prince charles© Photo: Getty Images

There's no doubt that the Prince of Wales is a foodie. He has a passion for organic foods and according to Darren McGrady, he has an 'amazing' vegetable garden at his Highgrove estate. But does he cook for himself?

When Darren worked for the prince, he would request certain meals. The former royal chef said in a YouTube video: "I used to cook lamb a lot at Buckingham Palace. When the Prince of Wales was there it was often on the menu. He’d request it. He’s a big fan of lamb."

He added: "I really liked Prince Charles. He was a foodie, he loved to know what was being served and where it was sourced from."

We also know that the Duchess of Cornwall is a great cook, so perhaps Charles is fairly hands-off when it comes to preparing meals.

Camilla's son Tom Parker-Bowles wrote in his cookbook Let's Eat how he is often asked if his mother is a good cook. He says of his childhood: "She is, although she was always less bothered with the cakes, puddings and pies side of things: anything that requires exact measurements. Which was fine by us."

Does Sarah Ferguson cook?

We don't think so

sarah ferguson© Photo: Getty Images

The jury's out on this one, however, from previous comments in 2018 on a Swedish TV show, it seems that the mother of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice chooses not to cook.

Sarah said of one of her former jobs: "And then the waitresses in a strudel house. I don’t cook, I just took the strudel out of the deep freezer and put it in the oven; that’s cooking. Then I married a prince, it was great."

Does Zara Tindall cook?

Yes she does

zara tindall© Photo: Getty Images

Down-to-earth Zara is quite the supermum. She has two children, is an Olympic-standard eventing horse rider AND she cooks.

Her husband Mike Tindall told The Guardian in 2007: "I won't lie, my girlfriend Zara does all the cooking in the house. She's an awesome cook. She doesn't have a speciality, she's very good generally and can do a lot of fancy stuff."

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