British royal palaces are full of secrets. Some have already been revealed, while others still lie hidden behind their doors. Darren McGrady, former head chef to Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Diana, revealed a few of them earlier this week. In an interview with Heart Bingo Online, Grady shared a special culinary anecdote linking the late monarch and her grandson, Prince William.
Whenever Prince William felt like some ice cream, the young prince simply had to press a button at Buckingham Palace… and then wait a few minutes. His favorite flavor? Dark chocolate.
“When I worked for The Queen, Prince William loved dark chocolate and asked for chocolate ice cream,” said McGrady. “The Queen would press a button, the page would come, she’d ask for the ice cream, and it triggered a long chain: head chef, pastry chef, silver pantry, glass pantry, linen room. Finally, 20 minutes later, William got his homemade ice cream presented to him.”
At other palaces, procuring ice cream was less of a to do. “At Kensington, it was much more relaxed,” McGrady said. “William would walk into the kitchen and say, ‘Darren, can I have some chocolate ice cream, please?’ I’d say, ‘Help yourself.’”
The former chef goes on to say that the prince would “grab Haagen-Dazs chocolate chip, that was his favorite, open it, and sit in the windowsill eating it.” It was a passion for chocolate that he shared with his grandmother, a great lover of dark chocolate—especially when it contained more than 60% cocoa, according to McGrady. “Any chocolate dessert on the menu was guaranteed to be chosen,” the chef reveals.
While William inherited his love of chocolate from Elizabeth II, his father’s tastes differ somewhat. King Charles III prefers fruit-based pastries, such as banana bread or olive oil and orange cake—his favorite. As for Kate Middleton, Prince William’s wife, her favorite dessert is said to be sticky toffee pudding, that particularly sweet British classic. One thing is certain: in the House of Wales, a sweet tooth runs in the family.
Original story appeared in VF France.
