Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles' 'boring' Christmas dinner favorite

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last updated 6 December 2022

The late Queen Elizabeth II's 'boring' Christmas dinner go-to has been revealed by her former royal chef.

While the Queen famously hosted a lavish royal Christmas at her Norfolk residence, Sandringham, almost every year of her 70-year reign, a royal chef has revealed that she liked to keep things simple when it came to dinner time.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady has shared details of his time cooking up a festive feast for The Firm and admitted the Queen's choice of Christmas dinner meat is rather 'boring'.
In other royal news, the Christmas outfit Kate Middleton regrets for this *very* relatable reason has been revealed.

With Queen Elizabeth II spending almost every Christmas of her reign at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, Her Majesty's royal Christmases were one of her favorite celebrations of the year.

With all of the monarch's close family members gathering at Sandringham for her famous yuletide get togethers over the years, the Queen's Christmas traditions included a German-inspired Christmas Eve gift exchange, a Christmas Day church ceremony and the classic family lunch.

And while royal fans may expect the British monarchy to dine on lots of luxury festive treats, it turns out that the Queen's Christmas dinner menu was kept rather simple.

Darren McGrady cooked for the royal family for over a decade, catering for everyone from Her Majesty the Queen herself to Princess Diana.

Recalling his time in the royal kitchens on Christmas Day, Darren explained that turkey with delicious-sounding trimmings was on offer for the royals and staff alike.

He added that there wasn't much else on offer when it came to meat, though, with no sign of gammon or goose on the Queen's Christmas dinner table.

"It was the same meal every year. They're actually boring when it comes to festivities. They didn't do hams or anything, just traditional turkeys," he said.

"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," Darren continued.

"The turkey is served with mashed and roast potatoes, chestnut or sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce. Vegetables include Brussels sprouts, carrots and roast parsnips."

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Caitlin is News Editor for woman&home, covering all things royal, celeb, fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Caitlin started on local papers and titles such as Cosmopolitan, Now, Reveal and Take a Break while studying for her Multimedia Journalism degree. She also worked in Fashion PR as a Press Assistant for Arcadia's Topshop before becoming a part of the Now team. Caitlin went on to add the likes of Woman, GoodtoKnow, WhatToWatch and woman&home to her writing repertoire before moving on to her current role.