You too can eat like the royals this Christmas. No, seriously, you can — and it won’t cost you the roof over your head either.
Darren McGrady, a former chef for the royal family, recently explained that the Christmas menu for the Windsors is actually standard holiday fare, according to Travel + Leisure. Beyond the fact that they are the royal family and are celebrating Christmas in a literal castle — Sandringham House in Norfolk — the royals are just like us on the holidays.
"They're actually boring when it comes to festivities. They didn't do hams or anything, just traditional turkeys. 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,” McGrady told Hello.
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Other than the three turkeys, McGrady explained that the royals eat “different stuffings — sage and onion, chestnut” and traditional sides such as roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, parsnips, and Brussels sprouts. Additionally, the royals dine on a traditional Christmas pudding for dessert.
"The pudding was made in pudding basins, turned out, decorated in holly, doused in brandy and then the palace steward would carry it, flaming, into the royal dining room," explained McGrady.
In contrast to the very traditional meal, the family focuses on wild and wacky White Elephant gifts for exchange between members. For example, Prince Harry once gave Queen Elizabeth a shower cap reading “Ain’t life a bitch?” and Prince Charles once gave a white toilet seat to his sister.
Honestly, that seems like a better holiday tradition to follow than yet another boring Secret Santa of stationery, mugs, and socks.
Honestly, that seems like a better holiday tradition to follow than yet another boring Secret Santa of stationery, mugs, and socks.
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