In the age of Netflix and chilling, the way that people eat meals has completely changed. No longer are families gathering around the table to discuss their days over vegetables and main dishes. Now, people are sitting around the television with plates in their laps to consume the latest episode of their favorite tv show, along with their nutrients.
But have these new eating habits even spread to the royal family?
The average dinner in the UK
Recent research from YouGov Omnibus has found that 34% of children in the UK eat their dinners in front of the television screen.
And even the amount of time that people are spending eating the last meal of the day has decreased.
According to recent reports from Co-op Food in partnership with Dr. Patrick Alexander from the Social Issues Research Centre, on average, British dinners only last for about 21 minutes.
Just a few decades ago, families were typically eating three-course meals at the table. Now, only 2% of people have reported preparing three-course meals for their families on a normal basis and 55% of families have some sort of screen present while eating, according to Mirror.co.uk.
How does the Queen eat dinner?
For many people, the Queen represents the traditional way of doing things. But when it comes to her dinner, the Queen prefers the modern way of eating a balanced meal.
“She eats her dinner off a tray looking at the television,” royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell said on the Channel 5 documentary, Secrets of the Royal Kitchen.
“She likes it. It’s homely, it’s cosy, and it’s comfortable.”
After dinner, the chefs will often send the Queen a bowl of fruit to choose from, as long as the fruit is in season.
“You try and serve strawberries to the Queen in January and it’s off to the tower you’re really in trouble,” former Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady said.
How is the Queen’s menu determined?
Though the Queen likes to eat her dinner in a modern way, we wouldn’t say that she is exactly spontaneous with her food choices. In fact, according to McGrady, she chooses her meals a few days prior to eating them.
“The Queen has a royal menu book that’s completed by the chef and the chef does three days’ menus and that gives us enough time to get all the produce in and prepare it,” he said.
“When the menu book goes up to the Queen she puts a line through the dishes that she doesn’t want.”
“If she’s out for dinner she’ll put a line through the page and if she’s got guests coming she’ll put 2 or 3 so we know she’s entertaining.”
And the Queen isn’t afraid to make changes to the menu.
“She has a HB pencil and she’d tick one or add something that she would prefer,” chef alumni Des Sweeney said.
“She knows what she likes, nothing too spicy. She meets too many people, and they can smell garlic on her breath or last night’s curry.”
The Queen certainly knows what she wants when it comes to food. Whether she has a preference as to what’s on the tv during the meal is another question entirely.
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