Queen Elizabeth enjoys white toast and an oat biscuit for breakfast.
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Details of the royal family’s dietary requirements have been released in handwritten notes by Audrey Taylor – the Deputy Head Royal Coffee Maid at Buckingham Palace for four years from 1990 – which are set to be auctioned following her death last month.
One list entitled Queen And Duke’s Breakfast Tray shows that on a normal day the queen requests white toast and an oat biscuit, while her husband Prince Philip asks for Ryvita and granary toast.
They also request cereal boxes, brown sugar in a small pot, honey, syrup and marmalade and are provided with six saucers and a ‘slop basin’. Their teapot is accompanied by a tea caddy as well as a small strainer with two handles.
The notes also reveal that at tea time the couple request a loaf of bread which must be left whole – supposedly because Prince Philip enjoys carving it. The queen opts for sliced bread when dining alone, accompanied by biscuits, warmed scones and cakes served on four small plates with doilies and a special scone napkin.
The queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, breakfasts on yogurt, cream, milk and butter and an egg – boiled for four minutes – with cereal and granary toast. Princess Anne enjoys kiwi fruits washed down with a glass of orange juice.
The records also contain the written daily orders given to Audrey listing times that visiting dignitaries should be awoken, what they wanted for breakfast and any special requirements.
On one visit to the palace, then Prime Minister John Major and wife Norma ordered a huge breakfast of Royal garden fruit, cereals, eggs, bacon, tomatoes, fried bread, toast, rolls, marmalade and Indian tea.
Richard Westwood-Brookes of Mullock’s auction house in Ludlow, who will be selling the documents on September 25, said the entire collection was expected to fetch more than £2,000.
He added: “I think the menus are particularly interesting because they provide a rare insight into the workings of the Royal Household – and show it is much more complicated than people give the royals credit for.”
