Carole Middleton’s family rule with 'no exceptions' that taught Pippa a valuable lesson as a child

Over the years we’ve heard the Princess of Wales and her siblings speak out about their idyllic childhood in Berkshire and the supportive roles their parents played. In 2020, Kate explained that they came to "every sports match" to cheer them on and took them on family holidays.

Meanwhile, James has credited Carole and Michael with bringing them up "knowing that you can’t take family for granted". Pippa has also discussed their childhoods before and in her first major interview ever in 2016 she disclosed the strict rule that was a valuable lesson.

Chatting with the Daily Mail, the Princess of Wales’s sister explained that they were "taught to eat properly" and ate together as a family three times a day at home. There was no children’s food either - whatever the adults cooked, that was what was on offer.

Pippa declared, "As children we didn't have anything different, we always ate what our parents ate. My mother and father took the view, and I agree, that you don't need to make different food for children. We had to eat everything on our plate and not be fussy about food."

Carole and Michael’s approach wasn’t always smooth-sailing, as Pippa revealed that there were occasions where she sat at the table for a while after meal times after not wanting to tuck into whatever dish was served. However, she soon learnt to like "everything".

"There were times when I would be sitting at the table after lunch or dinner, having not eaten something because I decided I didn't like it and actually remaining there until I had eaten it," she shared, adding laughingly, "'We had to stay at the table until we had eaten everything. There were no exceptions. And in the end I liked everything because I had to."

The Middletons were clearly no-nonsense about food in their house and Pippa’s remark that she agrees with it suggests that she appreciates this now. It’s possible that the mum-of-three might adopt this in her own household and she reflected on the “traditional” fare Carole used to make.

“She wouldn't spend hours in the kitchen because she was working, but it was always what I call proper stuff, home- cooked food and rarely any takeaways. Even from a very young age we had lots of traditional food like shepherd's pie, liver and mash with an onion gravy, kidneys and even mussels,” she said. “Good carbohydrate, protein and vegetables, really good for you and cheap as well. We had to eat the lot.”

With no fussiness allowed, Pippa learnt from a young age to like a lot of ingredients that some might consider grown-up for children - especially offal.

Her big sister Kate also spoke of her love for kidneys during a visit to the Oxford House Nursing Home in February 2023. When one of the residents, Nora, told the future Queen that her favourite foods were "kidneys and Brussels sprouts", the royal is understood to have responded, "Oh, kidneys! I love kidneys too!"

Salty savoury ingredients are some of Pippa’s favourites. In her interview she discussed her cook book, Heartfelt, whose profits went to The British Heart Foundation.

Although she said she regularly uses "ingredients like feta, anchovies and olives", they were ruled out for the recipes in the book because "though they add extra flavour, each introduces salt".

"Instead, I leaned more heavily on citrus and garlic, and spices that provide heat, such as chilli, and paprika," she declared.