Balmoral has been the summer residence of the British royal family since the reign of Queen Victoria, whose husband, Prince Albert, purchased the castle and the surrounding 7,000 acres in 1845. For Queen Elizabeth II, the estate nestled in the Scottish hills was her favorite home—the place where she could enjoy her most carefree, happy, and unburdened moments. Every summer the queen and Prince Philip welcomed their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to Balmoral—a grand family reunion enlivened by many outdoor activities: horseback riding, hikes in the countryside, hunting, fishing, and ever present barbecues. The latter was a great passion of Philip’s—who was, not surprisingly, nicknamed “the master of the barbecue.”
Chef Darren McGrady, who worked for the late Queen Elizabeth for 15 years, recalled that the prince “loved to cook and cared about foods and recipes. He’d go on to ask what we could marinate them with and what vegetables were in the garden…. Then he would be in charge of cooking the main course.” Philip enjoyed grilling meats such as lamb, venison, or sausage, cooking them along with delicious side dishes, including classic foil-wrapped jacket potatoes—with butter, oil, and spices—made directly over the coals.
The prince was certainly not the only royal who lent a hand in the kitchen. For example, Princess Anne helped her father tend the grill, but that wasn’t all. “You’d often get Princess Anne come down to the kitchen and say: ‘I’m in charge of the first course tonight. What can I take?’” McGrady recounted. Prince Edward also pitched in. With a huge sweet tooth, he wanted to make pancakes and would often ask the staff to prepare the batter: “He’d want to fill them with things like raspberries or strawberries from the garden—with ice cream,” McGrady said.
Several people close to the royal family have said that Queen Elizabeth enjoyed washing the dishes. It was a habit that often surprised her guests, including heads of government. In his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, biographer Gyles Brandreth recounted the exceptional testimony of former British prime minister David Cameron: “I’m not making this up,” Cameron began, as if to emphasize the extraordinary nature of his story. “You sat down, and Prince Philip and Her Majesty the Queen served your dinner and cleared it away and washed it up while you sat talking with the other guests.”
